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THE MANUFACTURE 


OF 

PHOTOGENIC OR HYDRO-CARBON 


OILS, 


Jwm tel still trtlttr $ittatsn«s, 


CAPABLE OP 


SUPPLYING BURNING FLUIDS. 


BY 


THOMAS ANTISELL, M.D., 


t| 

PROFESSOR OF CHEMISTRY IN THE MEDICAL DEPARTMENT OF GEORGETOWN 
COLLEGE, D. C., ETC., ETC. 


NEW YORK: 

D. APPLETON AND COMPANY, 

346 & 348 BROADWAY. 

LONDON: 16 LITTLE BRITAIN. 

1860 . 


Entered, according to Act of Congress, in the year 1S59, by 
D. APPLETON & COMPANY, 

In the Clerk’s Office of the District Court of the United States for the 
Southern District of New York. 




30 ^| 





PREFACE. 


The present little treatise is the first published 
monograph on the art of distilling oils from miner¬ 
als containing Bitumen: like the art itself, it is 
necessarily imperfect in some particulars. The diffi¬ 
culty of obtaining detailed information on methods 
of manufacture abroad or at home, is not incon¬ 
siderable, when the history and progress of an art 
has to be newly described. 

The position which the Author occupies in the 
U. S. Patent Office (having in charge the examina¬ 
tion of a large class of patented applications, involv¬ 
ing chemical processes), has enabled him to present 
to the public this record of the origin and condition 
of an infant art—the well-furnished Library of the 
Patent Office having furnished him the means to 
indicate the state of the manufacture abroad. 

It is hoped it will be acceptably received by 
those occupied with, or interested in, this new 
branch of industry. 


























CONTENTS. 


PAGE 

CHAPTER I. 

INTRODUCTION—HISTORY OF THE ART, . . . .7 

CHAPTER II. 

ON THE CHEMICAL COMPOSITION OF BITUMINOUS COAL, BITUMINOUS 
SCHIST, NATIVE BITUMENS, PEAT, AND ORGANIC SUBSTANCES 
YIELDING PHOTOGENIC OILS, . . . . .17 

CHAPTER III. 

ON THE GENERAL PRINCIPLES INVOLVED IN DESTRUCTIVE DISTILLA¬ 
TION : RESULTING PRODUCTS OBTAINED, . . .39 

CHAPTER IV. 

ON THE PRODUCTS DERIVED FROM TnE DISTILLATION OF BITUMI¬ 
NOUS COAL, . . . . . . .47 

CHAPTER Y. 

ON THE PRODUCTS DERIVED FROM TnE DISTILLATION OF SCniSTS 

AND NATURAL BITUMENS, . . . . .77 

CHAPTER VI. 

OF THE DISTILLATION OF PEAT AND WOOD, 


85 


6 


CONTENTS, 


CHAPTER VII. 

ON THE VARIOUS MODES OF APPLYING nEAT IN TnE PROCESS OF 
DISTILLING PHOTOGENIC OILS, . 

CHAPTER VIII. 

GENERAL REMARKS ON THE COMMERCIAL MANUFACTURE, . 
SYNOPTICAL RESUME OF PATENTED IMPROVEMENTS HAVING REFER¬ 
ENCE TO THE DISTILLATION OF OILS FROM COALS, BITUMENS, 
AND SCHISTS, ....... 

I. AMERICAN PATENTS, ..... 

II. EUROPEAN PATENTS, ..... 


PAGE 


92 


113 

136 

136 

141 



CHAPTER I. 


HISTORICAL INTRODUCTION. 

The new and extensive manufacture of oils from coal 
and other bituminous substances, is one of the latest ap¬ 
plications of that valuable mineral to new and important 
uses; and though still in its rudest infancy, it promises 
to become one of the most enlarged and valuable applica¬ 
tions to which coal has been subjected. 

When the number of products derivable from the 
destructive distillation of coal at low temperatures is 
taken into account, the many and varied uses to which 
each and all of these are capable of being adapted, the 
cheapness of production, and the unlimited capability of 
supply, we are tempted to believe that this last effort to 
further utilize an already inconceivably useful mineral, 
is the happiest modern result of the application of Chem¬ 
istry to the arts of life. 

The discovery of the production of oils from coal, 
appears to date as far back as the time of Boyle, 
when the experiments of Dr. Clayton were made upon 
the inflammable nature of the distillates of coal. These 


8 


HISTORICAL INTRODUCTION. 


were first communicated to the public by the Royal 
Society of London, many years after, in 1739: “ first, 
(says he,) there came over a flegm, then a black oil, and 
then likewise a spirit (gas) arose, which I could in no 
wise condense/' This gas was such a matter of novelty 
and interest, that the appearance or nature of the oil was 
overlooked, and Clayton's experiments were wholly directed 
to the examination of the gas, and not of the fluid pro¬ 
ducts. 

Dr. Hales, in his Vegetable Statics, published in 1726, 
describing experiments conducted by him, mentions the 
production of a volatile oil, which he condensed in a ves¬ 
sel attached to the still. 

Dr. Watson, Bishop of Llandaff, also describes the 
production of oils whenever coal is heated to redness in 
close vessels.— {Philos. Trans., Vol. 41.) 

Mr. Northern, of Leeds, (England,) in the year 1805, 
called public attention to the use of coal gas, and in the 
Monthly Magazine for April, 1805, writes : “ I distilled 
in a retort 50 oz. of pit coal in a red heat, which gave 
6 oz. of a liquid matter covered with oil more or less fluid 
as the heat was increased or diminished ; about 26 oz. of 
cinder remained in the retort ; the rest came over in the 
form of air as it was collected in the pneumatic apparatus. 
* * * * * In the receiver I found a fluid of an 

acid taste, with a great quantity of oil, and at the bottom 
a substance resembling tar." 

This passage contains the germ or basis of the manu¬ 
facture of Volatile Oils from Coal, which was not further 
pursued until nearly the middle of the present century, 
w T hen the demand for rapid solvents of Caoutchouc became 
so urgent, that new modes of obtaining benzule led to the 
distillation of tar for that purpose, and while separating 


HISTORICAL INTRODUCTION. 


9 


benzule by fractional distillation, other valuable lumi¬ 
niferous agents were found to be present, or capable of 
being derived from the same crude fluid. 

Before the application of coals to the manufacture of 
gas, the necessity which existed for the use of tar for 
various purposes by the English navy and mercantile 
marine, led to the carbonization of coals for the obtaining 
of tar therefrom ; and though generally esteemed inferior 
for these purposes to wood tar, yet the scarcity of forests 
and consequent high price of the latter, led to a ready 
market for coal tar. The subsequent extended manufac¬ 
ture of gas, not only in England, but throughout the 
world, led to a large supply of tar, independent of its 
separate manufacture. The manufacture of coke in ovens 
led also to a smaller additional supply. 

Laurent and Reichenbach had shown the results yielded 
by the distillation of tars, and Selligue in France applied 
this knowledge to the practical treatment of the bitumi¬ 
nous schists of Autun, and, still later, to the paper coal 
and bituminous slate of the coal formation. 

Selligue purified the oils so as to make burning fluids 
of them, and was the true introducer of that industry into 
France. Mansfield, at the close of 1847, obtained his 
patent for the separation and purification of volatile liquids 
from tar : the benzule, which he introduced into the 
English market, at once commanded a ready sale, from its 
known property of dissolving caoutchouc. Before the 
mastication of rubber was practised, its solution was the 
only known mode of separating its particles and enabling 
sheet rubber to be made; and as turpentine acted but 
slowly as a solvent, benzule was esteemed a valuable addi¬ 
tion to the arts. Mansfield had pointed out its property 
of rendering air or gases luminous when saturated with its 


10 


HISTORICAL INTRODUCTION. 


vapor, and naphthalized gas, as it was termed, became an 
article in domestic nse. The other fluids did not make 
their way into the market as burning fluids, whether owing 
to their small production or not is difficult to say. This 
was the position of matters in 1848 and up to 1850. 

About this time, James Young obtained a Scotch 
patent, and subsequently an English one, for the obtaining 
of Paraffine oils from coal: the practical results of his 
process were so promising that the treatment of coals for 
the obtaining the distilled oils has every year increased in 
importance. 

This discovery of Young's was one of a class very com¬ 
mon in the history of technological improvement: not one 
in which the improvement has been of that character to 
astonish by its novelty, or excite admiration by its magni¬ 
tude ; but, on the other hand, a smail step in advance of 
previous applied knowledge, an advance so slight as hardly 
to have elicited any surprise at the time of publication. 

Many years before 1848, it had been known that 
bituminous schists afforded on destructive distillation 
considerable quantities of oil, and efforts were not wanting 
both in France and England to turn these shales to prac¬ 
tical advantage. 

The experiments of the Hon. Robert Boyle upon coal, 
by which he obtained a gas, were the first efforts to 
separate an illuminating agent from that mineral; his 
attempts were not repeated, and his discoveries lay with¬ 
out any practical result for exactly 100 years, when Mr. 
Murdock, of Cornwall, England, lighted up his house at 
Redruth with illuminating gas. 

On the continent of Europe, the high price of animal 
oils and fats, and the insufficient supply of vegetable fat 
oils, directed attention to the distillation of asphalt, 


HISTORICAL INTRODUCTION. 


11 


bitumens, and bituminous schists, so as to obtain oils for 
illumination therefrom. 

The manufacture of bituminous oils, so extensively 
carried out in Germany and France for the last 15 years, 
is of comparatively recent growth in Great Britain and 
this country, where the pursuit of whale fishing supplied 
the market with abundance of lamp oils. 

It was not, therefore, by tentative essays upon coal or 
its crude tar alone, that the production of volatile oils 
was wholly perfected. From the time when Lavoisier had 
opened up the new and exact mode of examining material 
substances, the bitumens of Europe had engaged the at¬ 
tention of chemists. Theodore de Saussure distilled the 
asphaltic limestone of Travers, Neufchatel, (Switzerland,) 
in 1819 and 1820 ; he obtained an oil therefrom, and 
found it identical with that from the petroleum of Ami- 
ano. Reichenbach, the proprietor of the chemical works 
of Tuhirico, Moravia, while examining the results of the 
dry distillation of beech wood, in 1829 and 1830, dis¬ 
covered paraffin ; he derived it from the tar of the wood. 
It was found in a few years that paraffin also existed in 
the tarry matters distilled from other species of wood, and 
also in the tars arising from the distillation of bitumens, 
and ultimately in coal. In 1830-31, Reichenbach dis¬ 
covered naphthalin ; in 1831-'32, he described kreosote, 
piccamar, and pittakal, all of which were derived from 
the tar obtained by the dry distillation of woody matters. 

To no one are we so much indebted for opening up 
true views of the results of close distillation of organic 
(vegetable) substances, as to Reichenbach. His name 
will ever be coupled with the early history of the produc¬ 
tion of oils from bituminous matters ; and it must be ac¬ 
knowledged that for many years all our information on 


12 


HISTORICAL INTRODUCTION. 


this subject was derived from his researches. In 1833 
and 1834, he turned his attention to the distillation of 
coal in close vessels in contact with water, but without 
any practical results ; from 220 lbs. of coal, he only ob¬ 
tained little more than 9 ounces of volatile oil, or about 
fV of 1 per cent. In 1833, Dr. Bley distilled brown 
coal, and obtained a small quantity of volatile oil, besides 
some ammoniacal products. 

The difficulty in adjusting the due degree of heat, no 
doubt led to the discouraging results (viewed in a practical 
light) of the distillation of coals and bitumens ; and the 
extensive use of these materials in the production of gas, 
drew away the attention of the chemist and the manufac¬ 
turer from the problem of obtaining liquid products in¬ 
stead of permanent gases. 

Still, however, various attempts were made to improve 
the apparatus for distilling ; and the retorts of Hompesch, 
and Beslay, and Rouen, of Gengembre, and others, show 
that from 1841, correct views as to the means for distilling, 
for separating the products, and for adjusting the tem¬ 
perature, had commenced to be entertained, although these 
views were not carried out by treatment always appropri¬ 
ate or successful. 

In September, 1812, Mr. Lewitte breveted an apparatus 
for extracting tar from coal, the object being the applica¬ 
tion of the tar to varnishes, and modes of protecting 
surfaces : two circular furnaces, placed at each end of the 
apparatus, with fan or blasts to activate the fires ; the 
condensing apparatus between the furnaces, consists of a 
series of narrow passages in brick work, with a reservoir 
placed in the centre and front of the apparatus to receive 
the bitumen. The mode of operation was, to place 3 \ tons 
of coal in one furnace, and the communication with the 


HISTORICAL INTRODUCTION. 


13 


other furnace shut off by a register, the coals being 
kindled by lighting some kindling placed below the coal 
on the hearth, and opening the blasts, in two hours the 
combustion becomes active, and the tar commences to dis¬ 
til over. Combustion lasts 24 hours, and when over, the 
register of that furnace is shut, and the opposite one 
lighted, and thus the condensers may be kept in constant 
use by alternate fires. Coal afforded 10 per cent, of tar 
by this mode of distillation ; the residual coke was valu¬ 
able for forges and iron furnace operations. 

In 1824, Prosper and Charles Chervau breveted a pro¬ 
cess for extracting by distillation the bitumen which the 
rocks in the department of Saone and Loire contain abun¬ 
dantly. The mode of treatment was to place the rock, 
broken into small pieces, into cylindrical cast-iron retorts, 
5 feet 2 inches long, 20 inches broad, and about 1J inch 
thick ; this cylinder is closed at one end by the luted cap 
or lid in the usual way, and at the other, the lid has an 
opening in its centre for the admission of the eduction 
tube, which passes into a receiver, or wolfe’s bottle; in 
connection with this, nine other receivers are attached. 
The vessels are of stone ware, and so arranged by connect¬ 
ing pipes, that when the first receiver is half full, a pipe 
leads off the tar into the second, and so on until the last 
receiver is filled, when it is drawn off by a faucet. The 
retort is placed on a furnace, whose wall supports it at 
either end, leaving the centre of the retort free for the 
flame to play on. The receiving vessels may be emptied 
by a syphon when the distillation is finished. 

The bitumen obtained had all the character of naph¬ 
tha, and the manufacturers recommend it as well suited 
for giving light in alcohol lamps ; they also state, that by 
operating on the rock of Saone and Loire they have ex- 


14 


HISTORICAL INTRODUCTION. 


tracted volatile oils in the proportion of 40 parts of oil to 
100 parts of rock. 

Many impediments presented themselves in the prac¬ 
tical manufacture of products from the dry distillation of 
wood and coal. Reichenbach had shown the mode of pre¬ 
paration of oils from vegetable matters, (fresh,) from tarry 
matters, and finally from the carbonizing of pit coal, but 
the products were always trifling, and therefore even the 
establishment of moderate factories was neither profitable 
nor inviting. “ So remained paraffin until this hour, a 
beautiful item in the collection of chemical preparations, 
but it has never escaped from the rooms of the scientific 
man/' * Thus wrote Reichenbach of it in 1854 Only 
since the year 1850 has the manufacture of paraffin from 
pit coal, turf, and bituminous shales, succeeded as an art. 
The first manufacture was that of James Young, in Man¬ 
chester, by whose process, from 100 parts of Cannel coal, 
40 per cent, of oil and 10 per cent, of paraffin could be 
obtained. 

In thus showing that the practical manufacture of oils 
from coal is due to James Young, it may not be amiss to 
call attention to what it was which he produced from coals 
by distillation. He claimed the production of paraffin oils 
—not the production of naphtha or benzule, nor naphtha- 
lin, but paraffin and its congeners : this involves the slower 
distillation of coals at a lower temperature than had been 
hitherto effected, and this novelty in practice was followed 
by the novel result of a copious production of isomeric 
liquid hydrocarbons ; so that really two great results were 
first demonstrated practically by the operation of Young’s 
process, namely—1st. That coal was a material from 
which liquids could be manufactured economically, as tar, 

* Reichenbach Journ. f. pract. Chem. LXIII., p. 63. 


HISTORICAL INTRODUCTION. 


15 


bitumens, and schists, had been hitherto employed ; and 
2d. That the liquids so formed were paraffin—containing 
compounds. 

An impression has taken hold of the American manu¬ 
facturing public, that the patent of James Young has no 
force, as it was not a new invention at the date of the 
patent; and from the unfavorable effect of that patent 
upon the actual manufacture of coal oils in this country 
an ill-feeling has been produced against it. That the 
owners of this patent have not acted wisely by withholding 
sales and licenses under it until very lately, is to be re¬ 
gretted ; but that it was a bona fide improvement in an 
art at the time when it was patented, and that, therefore, 
the patent was rightly issued in this country, there can be 
no shadow of doubt in the mind of any one who carefully 
traces the steps of the discovery of the production of pho¬ 
togenic oils from different materials. 

Chemists at the present day look upon the fluid bitu¬ 
men from native sources, and the bitumen existing ready 
formed in coal, as substances which, if not identical, are 
very closely allied, so closely that both, when treated alike, 
yield products closely resembling each other. But chem¬ 
ists and naturalists did not always hold this opinion, and 
it was by no means a certainly ascertained fact, that the 
substances treated alike would yield like results ; in fact, 
the term bitumen applied to native plastic liquids and to 
the material in coal so named, conveyed not the same 
idea, but merely a remote resemblance ; it was a resem¬ 
blance of physical rather than of chemical properties, and 
hence the fact propounded by Reichenbach, and practically 
demonstrated by Young, that bituminous coal on distilla¬ 
tion yielded paraffin oils, was a considerable step in ad¬ 
vance both in chemistry and manufacture. 


16 


HISTORICAL INTRODUCTION. 


In Germany there originated, in 1855, paraffin works 
at Benel near Bonn, Ludwigshafen, and Toplitz. A few 
years has sufficed to introduce this waxy matter into many 
uses about us. This is shown in the more numerous modes, 
and the lower prices at which it is now obtained. 

The manufacture thus established in Germany, was 
also founded in France and Austria by Selligue, and the 
success resulting called the attention of England and this 
country to it as a branch of manufacture. 

The first manufacture in this country was the attempt 
of Solomon Gesner on the bituminous shales of Dorches¬ 
ter, New Brunswick. Extensive manufactories are now 
established at Brooklyn, New York, Pittsburg, Baltimore, 
and at several places along the Ohio valley and river. Yet 
the demand is so much in advance of the supply, that 
not only is the quantity produced insufficient, but the oil 
is sent into the market in such a crude and impure state, 
that much of the tar is retained, and the oil smokes and 
gives off unpleasant odors in the apartments. 

This manufacture once established must always pro¬ 
gress : the oils are valuable as solvents and as lubricators, 
as well as for photogenic purposes; in the latter use, they 
give ceteris paribus a whiter and a more brilliant light 
than any fixed or fat oil, and are produced at much less 
cost than oil can be had for. Hence, while they narrow 
the demand for fish and lard oils, which they supersede, 
and thus prevent the cost of such oils rising to any un¬ 
usual price, they are themselves controlled by the price of 
oil; and it only requires sufficient attention to be bestowed 
upon its purification so as to free it from creosote impuri¬ 
ties to render it one of the most pleasing and brilliant, as 
well as the most economic source of light in those situa¬ 
tions where gas is not desirable or attainable 


CHAPTER II. 


OP THE NATURE OP COALS, CARBONACEOUS SCHISTS, NATIVE 

BITUMENS, AND ORGANIC SUBSTANCES YIELDING MINERAL 

OILS. 

Coal is defined by Redfern to be a compressed and 
chemically altered vegetal matter, associated with more or 
less earthy substances, and capable of being used as fuel. 

This restricts the origin of coal to vegetable substances, 
and perhaps with propriety, for we do not know of animal 
substances by their decomposition producing a substance 
having all the properties of coal. 

Dr. Aitken, of Glasgow, and other microscopists, have 
carefully examined coal under the microscope, and in 
every case found traces of vegetable cells or structure, 
showing its plant-origin. Even in the most altered 
coals this could be ascertained ; hence, in the hands of a 
skilful microscopical chemist, this test may be applied to 
determine with certainty whether the substance is a coal 
or a bitumen. 

Native bitumens, asphalt, and petroleum, may have 
been formed also solely from vegetable matter undergoing 
decomposition under peculiar circumstances. A few geol- 
2 


18 


NATURE OF COALS, ETC. 


ogists and chemists are willing, however, to admit that 
bitumens may be of animal origin, and in a few instances 
may have been produced by the slow subterranean altera¬ 
tion of fish remains deposited during former geologic 
periods. It is difficult to speak with certainty of the 
exact origin of bitumens—but in one respect they differ 
from coal. In no case can an organic tissue or structure 
be demonstrated when they are examined under the 
microscope. 

Viewed in this light, the mineral found at the Albert 
mine, New Brunswick, should be classed as a bitumen, 
since Dr. J. Leidy was unable to detect any traces of 
structure in its mass : its difficulty of fusion is no argu¬ 
ment against its being a bitumen, since many of the 
bitumens of France are not fusible. The chemists and 
mineralogists of this country have, however, generally 
agreed to class it with the Boghead coal of Scotland, as a 
variety of cannel coal. 

The various changes or steps of the decomposition by 
which vegetable matter or wood is ultimately converted 
into coal, are not fully known. That time plays a con¬ 
siderable part in it, is evident from the difference between 
the true coals and the lignites, and even between lignites 
of different ages : the vascular and cellular characters of 
the wood being more evident in the lignites than in those 
coals in which the time for producing the change was 
prolonged. It is well known that carbonic acid gas es¬ 
capes abundantly from faults and fissures in the beds of 
brown coal, which may be the source of the acidulous 
springs found in those neighborhoods. This loss of car¬ 
bonic acid appears to accompany the conversion of wood 
into lignite, and the following formula, according to 
Gregory, would explain this occurrence : 


NATURE OF COAL. 


19 


From 3 equivalents of wood C 36 H 22 0 22 take 
3 equivalents carbonic acid C 3 0 6 
and 1 equiv. of hydrogen II 

There will be left of brown coal, C 33 II 2 i Oi 6 

The change here is the great loss of oxygen, which 
consequently relatively increases the proportion of hydro¬ 
gen and carbon in lignite above ordinary wood.—The 
oxygen is removed as carbonic acid. 

The further change into mineral coal appears to be 
accompanied with additional loss of carbonic acid—some 
watery vapor and a quantity of hydrogen which comes 
away united with carbon as carburetted hydrogen : this 
is known as the fire-damp of miners. Splint coal and 
cannel coal both have the composition C24 H 13 0, in 
which the loss of both oxygen and hydrogen is evident, 
especially the former. 

If we take the sum of these substances escaping, viz.:— 

3 equivalents carburetted hydrogen, C 3 II 6 
3 equivalents water, H 3 0 3 

9 equivalents carbonic acid, C 9 Che 

If this be deducted Ci 2 H 9 0 2 i 
from the formula of wood, C 36 H 22 0 22 

there would remain the formula of Cannel coal= C 24 Hi 3 0 

Caking coal may be represented as Cannel coal = 
C24 Hi 3 0 , minus olefiant gas C 4 H 4 , and has the for¬ 
mula C20 H9 0 . 

The ultimate constitution of coal being pointed out, 
an interesting question presents itself—What is the state 
or condition in which the elements are contained in the 
coal P The belief of many is, that one portion of the 
carbon is in a free or uncombined state, while the other 
and smaller portion is united with the hydrogen and oxy- 





20 


NATURE OF COAL. 


gen to form what is known as the bituminous portion; 
ind that the first effect of heat is to simply separate the 
combined from the uncombined carbon, and that the for¬ 
mation of anthracite is explained in this way ; this may 
be the case with some lignites, but when the homogeneous 
mass which true coal presents when heated—its semi¬ 
fusibility—is considered, it would rather appear that the 
carbon is altogether combined into one proximate sub¬ 
stance, and that the effect of heat is not to separate, but 
to decompose. 

Do any of the substances found in the receiver after 
the distillation of coal originally exist in it ? When coal 
is digested with ether but a small portion dissolves, which 
gives a brown color to the liquid, and which, when dry, 
has some of the characters of bitumen ; but neither 
naphtha nor petrolene, which exist naturally in bitumens, 
can be separated by any solvent from coal, and it is there¬ 
fore not likely that these substances exist in the fresh 
coal: we may suppose the latter to contain a series of 
carbides of hydrogen not yet separable by any of the 
solvents applied. When heated, these resolve themselves 
into tar at first and afterwards into volatile oils ; this un¬ 
known substance is called bitumen—not that it has been 
proved to be identical with native bitumens, for it has 
not, but because that by distillation it affords some of the 
products which bitumen yields when similarly treated. 
Paraffin probably exists ready formed in some coals. 

It is the loose application of the term Bitumen which 
has obscured the history of the improvement in the art 
which we are treating of. It is of late years only that 
chemists have come to look upon native bitumen, and 
that substance found in coals, as belonging to the same 
species or group : but twenty years ago this resemblance 


NATURE OF COAL. 


21 


was not so apparent, and at that time, to attempt to ap¬ 
ply coals to produce the same substances as bitumen was 
known to do, was not thought of; and although, as we 
have shown in the historical chapter, that these oils were 
actually capable of being produced by distillation of coal; 
yet that such was a necessary, constant, and reliable re¬ 
sult was not apprehended. Hence the attempt of Mr. 
Young to produce these oils on the large scale from the 
distillation of coal was not put in operation, because not 
believed capable of resulting in a successful manufacture. 
It had been already known that bitumens and bituminous 
schists would yield these photogenic oils in abundance ; 
it was also shown that birch tar, beech tar, and even coal 
tar, would also yield them ; but the manufacture of such 
from coal was not thought of before Mr. Young’s patent, 
because it was not known or believed that bituminous 
coal could yield them on a large scale. This Mr. Young 
accomplished, and thereby is entitled to the merit of pro¬ 
ducing oils from coal by distillation so as to establish a 
branch of industry : and this discovery of the value of 
coal is accorded to him by Eeichenbach himself. 

The proportion of bitumen present in coal varies with 
the amount of change which the vegetation has undergone 
since its deposition : actions of internal terrestrial heat, 
accompanied by moisture under great pressure, exerted 
upon it, tends to expel its bitumen, and reduce the coal 
to the condition of anthracite. All coal would be bitu¬ 
minous, were it not for these changes produced by geo¬ 
logical alterations of the sedimentary strata in which the 
deposit took place. 

The bitumen varies in amount from 10 to 63 per cent., 
the coal being termed fat in the latter, and dry in the 
former case. 


22 


NATURE OF COAL. 


Bituminous coal is softer and less lustrous than an¬ 
thracite, of a black or brown-black color, and with a 
specific gravity ranging from 1.14 to 1.5. When the 
bitumen is in abundance, it is often difficult to say 
whether the substance is a coal or a bitumen. 

The bitumen of coal resembles that afforded by nature, 
as asphalt and mineral tar, in its sensible qualities and 
general appearance ; it does not, however, contain the 
same proximate principles ; it does not yield petroline, nor 
does it by dry distillation yield the same fluids : they 
belong, however, to the same natural group or series, and 
tend to strengthen the opinion generally held that bitu¬ 
men, petroleum, and asphalt arise from the decomposition 
of fossil vegetation. In some cases, as before stated, it 
may be true that the slow decomposition of animal matter 
may produce a similar substance ; the fossiliferous shales 
in many bituminous districts containing abundant exuviae 
of molluscs and fishes, the decomposition of which in 
great abundance, under the peculiar circumstances in 
which they are placed, may produce a hydro-carbon bitu¬ 
men similar to the mineral tar. 

The natural bitumens always contain some volatile 
oil ready formed, and their varieties depend on the greater 
or less proportion of this volatile oil present in them. 

Interspersed through the masses of coal are found 
small quantities of a great variety of bodies—carbo-hydro- 
gens—resembling the oils and stearopten of plants closely 
in properties and combination. Thus ozocerite or fossil 
wax is found in cavities in the rock lying on the coal; 
it is brown, of a foliated structure, fuses at 143°. Paraf¬ 
fine is also found associated with coal. Both of them have 
the same composition as olefiant gas.—( Kane .) 


VARIETIES OF COAL. 


23 


Mineral coal is generally, for purposes of scientific 
technical description, divided into three classes : 

1. Anthracite or Glance coal. 

2. Lignite or Brown coal. 

3. Black or Bituminous coal. 

For distillation, the latter class is almost universally 
employed ; the lignite having only a limited area of dis¬ 
tribution and employment, and the anthracite not yielding 
any volatile liquids. A small quantity of a bituminous 
mineral, known as Boghead coal, has been employed in 
Great Britain, but its nature is not sufficiently well de¬ 
termined to regard it as a true coal, though usually classed 
with it. 

The varieties of black coal are very numerous, but the 
great majority may be included under four great divisions, 
viz.:— 

1. Caking Coal: melting when heated, and agglu¬ 
tinating in masses. 

2. Splint Coal: possessing a splintery fracture. 

3. Cherry Coal: burns without caking in any degree. 

4. Cannel Coal: hard, compact, bituminous, inflames 
at a candle. 

Generally speaking, the value of these varieties is in 
the order set down, the last variety yielding the largest 
amount of volatile matters ; then the cherry coal, while 
the caking coal yields the least supply. 

Cannel coal may occur in veins in different positions— 
that is, the cannel coal may occupy an inferior vein, while 
the ordinary pit coal may lie in the vein above ; but when 
the two species of coal occur together, the cannel coal is 
much more frequently found lying above, and in contact 
with, the pit coal. 


24 


CANNEL COAL. 


Breckenridge Cannel coal. This coal, in Breeken- 
ridge Co., Kentucky, is well exposed ; the coal measures, 
reaching an elevation of 500 feet above mean high water 
of the Ohio, at Cloverport. Of the three coal seams 
found in that region, the two lower are common bitumin¬ 
ous coal; the uppermost bed lies 300 feet above the level 
of the river, and is capped by a thick overlying mass of 
sandstone and shale. This bed is three feet in thickness, 
with a bituminous shale of some ten feet in addition, on 
which it immediately rests. The following are the char¬ 
acters of this coal, as given by Professor B. Silliman, Jr., 
in a paper read before the American Association for the 
Advancement of Science, May, 1854, from which this 
account is condensed :— 

“ 1. Specific gravity, 1.14 to 1.16. Common bituminous coal varies 
from 1.27 to 1.35, and anthracite, from 1.50 to 1.85. The only coal 
lighter than this, so far as is known, is the so-called Albert coal, of 
New Brunswick, whose density is 1.13. The cause of this low density 
will be sought chiefly in the very large amount of volatile matter. 

“2. Its tenacity and elasticity. Coals are usually brittle and in¬ 
elastic : this is tough, and resists powerful and repeated blows, and 
rebounds the hammer like wood. The splints of this coal may be 
sensibly bent by pressure, and regain their original form again. A 
fissure in it may be sprung open by a wedge, and will close again on 
withdrawing it. The writer has never seen any other coal with this 
peculiarity. 

“ 3. Its electrical power. This coal becomes powerfully excited by 
friction with resinous electricity. This peculiarity may be demonstrat¬ 
ed very easily, and has never before been noticed in any other coal, so 
far as the writer has been able to learn, except in the : Albert coal ’ of 
New Brunswick, before named. It is not easy to understand why 
other very highly bituminous coals should not have this property, but 
such is the fact with a large number that have been tried. 

4. Chemical constitution. This has been determined in the usual 
way by destructive distillation, with the following results, viz.: in 100 
parts we have— 


CANNEL COAL. 


25 


Volatile at redness, 

(1) 

60.27 

(2) 

63.520 

Fixed carbon, 

31.05 

27.160 

Ash, 

8.66 

8.470 

Hygroscopic moisture, 
Sulphur, 

trace 

.777 

trace 

Coke. 

99.98 

39.71 

99.927 

36.68 


u A comparison of these analyses with those of other highly bitu¬ 
minous coals, will show that there are very few examples recorded of 
so high an amount of volatile matter. For example, we find, among 
American coals, that the c Albert coal,’ of New Brunswick, yields 
61.74; the coal of Chippenville, Pa., 49.80 ; that of Kanawha, 41.85; 
of Pittsburg, 32.95, while the mean of the fat caking coals of Liverpool 
is 37.60 per cent. The Lowmoor Scotch Cannel, and the Boghead, 
also a Scotch coal, are the only ones giving a higher proportion of vol¬ 
atile matter. In fact, the ordinary proportions of volatile and fixed 
ingredients in bituminous coals are completely reversed in the Breck- 
enridge Canne!.” 

By comparing this description of Cannel coal with the 
Boghead, the resemblance will he perceived, the Boghead 
mineral having perhaps less density and more volatile 
matter contained in it. 

Among the varieties of Cannel coal mentioned here, 
should he the Boghead coal of Scotland. As the manu¬ 
facture of Pyrogenous oils has introduced this mineral 
into extensive use as a raw material, an outline of its 
properties are here subjoined. 

Boghead coal, or Torhane Hill mineral, is found in 
that group of marine deposits defined hy geologists as the 
carboniferous limestone of the southern outcrop of the 
Firth of Forth coal field, and is worked on a large scale 
at Bathgate, near Edinburgh. 

It is hard, brittle, of an earthy-black color, and breaks 
with a dull, even fracture. It burns with a bright, vo- 



26 


BOGHEAD COAL. 


luminous flame, and gives off much smoke. Its specific 
gravity is 1.155, being the lightest variety of European 
bituminous coal known ; it has the following constitution, 
as determined by Drs. Penny (1) and Fyfe (2) :— 



0) 

(2) 

Volatile matters, 

71 3 

69. 

Carbon in Coke, 

11.3 

9.25 

Ash, 

16.8 

21.75 

Moisture, 

6 



100. 

100. 


The ash, according to Dr. Fyfe, consists of 71 per 
cent, of silica, the rest being lime, magnesia, alumina, and 
a minute quantity of iron, in union with sulphur. The 
percentage of sulphur amounted to 0.13, equivalent to 
nearly 3 lbs. per ton of mineral. The larger amount of 
volatile matter contained in Boghead coal than is found 
in Cannel coals, is shown by the following comparative 
analyses, made by Dr. Penny : 



Specific 

Gravity. 

Volatile 

Matters. 

Carbon in 
Coke. 

Ash. 

Sulphur, 
per cent. 

Boghead,. 

1.155 

71.9 

11.8 

16.8 

.8 

Lismahago,. 

1.240 

52.6 

41. 

6.4 

.74 

Scotch Cannel (average) . 

1.330 

50.6 

41.9 

7.5 

1.26 

Breadisholm, .... 

1.819 

40.5 

51.5 

8. 

.3 

Derbyshire Cannel, . . 


47. 

48.4 

46 



When distilled, the Boghead coal yields several prod¬ 
ucts, among which the absence of benzine is remarkable, 
it being present in hut small quantity in the first dis¬ 
tillation. 

C. Gr. Williams found that the naphtha arising from 
the distillation of Boghead coal has a very low density, 
being only .750 at 60° F., although the boiling point, pre¬ 
vious to rectification, was 290° F. ; by repeated fractional 
distillations and purifications by nitric acid and alkaline 













BOGHEAD COAL. 


27 


solutions, a colorless and mobile fluid, having the odor of 
hawthorn blossoms, was obtained, with a density of .725 
at 60° ; this was butyle ; he also separated propyle, 
amyle, and caproyle. The following are the chief proper¬ 
ties of these liquids, as obtained from Torbane mineral by 


Williams :— 


Boiling 

Point. 

Specific 

Gravity. 

Vapor, 

density found. 

Propyle, 

C12 Hi 4 

68. C. 

.6745 

2.96 

Butyle, 

Cl. H„ 

119. C. 

.6945 

3.88 

Amyle, 

C 20 II 22 

159. C. 

.7365 

4.93 

Caproyle, 

C 24 H 26 

202. C. 

.7568 

5.83 


Paraffine, picoline, and phenole, have been obtained 
from the distillate of this mineral by Dr. Genther, whose 
results rather support the view that it is not a true coal: 
that the bituminous matter in it is not identical with that 
of ordinary black coal is evident from the different prod¬ 
ucts obtained by distillation ; in chemical constitution, it 
is more properly related to the petroleums and true bitu¬ 
mens. C. G. Williams has detected hexylene, Ci 2 Hi 2 , 
and heptylene, Ci 4 Hi 4 , two volatile hydro-carbon liquids. 

It is not intended in this work to enter into a descrip¬ 
tion of the variety and extent of the coal beds of the 
United States ; the reader is referred to Taylor's Sta¬ 
tistics of Coal, and to the works of W. R. Johnson. 

Dr. Newberry looks upon cannel coal and bituminous 
shale as but variations of one substance, the coal being 
changed into a shale by the addition of earthy matter. 
That cannel coal has been formed by the constant sub¬ 
mergence of vegetable matter under water, which, with 
the great pressure accompanying, gives it its homogeneous 
and laminated structure. The process of bituminization 
consists in the escape of some carbonic acid, of hydrogen 
as water, and the union of carbon and hydrogen to form 


28 


CANNEL COAL, ETC. 


the various hydro-carbons. Water preserves the coal 
from too much oxidation, and hence cannel coal formed 
under water contains more bitumen than other coals. 
The presence of fish-remains in cannel coal, according to 
Dr. Newberry, shows its aquatic deposition, and also that 
it must contain a certain amount of animal matter. 
Splint and cannel coals are formed somewhat differently 
from brown coal or lignite, the change taking place with¬ 
out access of air—consisting in the removal of 3 eq. of 
carburetted hydrogen, 3 eq. of water, and 9 eq. of carbonic 


acid, thus : 

Woody fibre,.C 3 6 H 22 O 22 

3 eq. carburetted hydrogen, C 3 H 6 

3 eq. water, H 3 0 3 

9 eq. carbonic acid, C 9 Oi 8 C 12 H 9 O 21 


Splint and cannel coal, . . C 2 4 IIi 3 0 


The following are the localities of cannel coal, as given 
by R. C. Taylor: 

Virginia —Near Charleston, Kanawha Co., and on Kanawha 


River and its tributaries, .... - 

Brandt’s Mines, Potomac Valley, .... 5 feet 

Pennsylvania —Near Greensburg, Beaver Co., ... 8 feet 

Six miles west of Greensburg,.. 

Near Ebensburg, Cambria Co., .... - 

Kentucky —Breckenridge Co., Cloverport, .... 3 feet 

Indiana —Cannelton,.3-5 feet 

Missouri —St. Louis, 8 miles from,.. 

Callaway Co.,. 24-46 feet 


The figures indicate the thickness of the vein. 

The Breckenridge cannel coal contains, in 100 parts, 
according to the analyses of Dr. R. Peter (1), and B. 
Silliman, Jr. (2, 3) : 









LIGNITE OR BROWN COAL. 


29 



(l) 

(2) 

(3) 

Moisture,. 

1.30 


.777 

Volatile matters, . . . 

54.40 

60.27 

63.525 

Carbon,. 

32. 

31.05 

27.160 

Ash. 

12.30 

8.66 

8.470 


Lignite or Brown Coal is more recent in its forma¬ 
tion than the upper secondary or true carboniferous de¬ 
posits ; it is sometimes not easily distinguishable from 
common bituminous coal. Usually of a brown-black 
color, bright coal lustre, with something of the texture of 
wood remaining—often the form and fibre of the original 
tree is retained, when it is called lignite : 'this latter burns 
with an empyreumatic odor. Brown coal occurs in beds 
usually of small extent, and is seldom so pure from pyrites 
as the more ancient bituminous coal.— {Dana.) The 
depth of the brown color depends upon the depth of the 
bed of coal itself; it rarely has a conchoidal fracture 
well defined ; it is usually inferior as a fuel, containing a 
large percentage of earthy matters. The coal contains 
usually a large amount of moisture, Yarrentrop having 
found as much as 48 per cent, in a variety from Helm- 
stadt; the average moisture is about 30 per cent., and 
when air-dried in summer, sinks to 20 per cent. 

When lignite is treated with Caustic Potassa, it almost 
completely dissolves, yielding a dark brown -liquor, which 
gives the same reactions that the presence of Ulmine in 
solution does. 

As this is the chief ingredient of peat, it shows the 
close relation which exists between lignites and peat, closer 
than exists between lignites and bituminous coals. Again, 
the coke which remains after the distillation of lignites 
retains the form and structure of the sample operated on, 
as wood does, and which never occurs with other varieties 










30 


LIGNITE OR BROWN COAL. 


of coal. As lignites are of various ages of deposit, 
the older varieties approach in characters very closely to 
bituminous coal. 

Regnault gives the density of the various lignites 
which he examined when in the dry state, as between 
1.100 and 1.85, the denser specimens containing a large 
amount of earthy matters. 

Lignite is found in many places in the United States, 
not, however, in such quantity as to justify its being 
worked for the purposes of distillation. 

The following table of the composition of American 
bituminous coal, with the ratio of fixed to volatile matters, 
is extracted from the report upon American coals made 
to the Navy Department of the United States, by W. R. 
Johnson; printed First Session of the Twenty-eighth 
Congress:— 


Locality. 

Specific 

Gravity. 

Moisture. 

Volatile 

Matters. 

Fixed 

Carbon. 

Earthy 

Matters. 

Ratio of 
Volatile 
to Fixed 
Matters . 

Pittsburg,. 

1.252 

1.397 

36.603 

54.926 

7.074 

2.014 

Cannelton, Indiana,. 

1.273 

2.597 

33.992 

58.437 

4.974 

1.719 

c 

' Maryland N. Y. & Md. Ms.Co. 

1.431 

.803 

12.902 

67.365 

18.930 

5.222 

< 

Frostburg (Neff),. . . . 

1.3221 

2.455 

12.675 

74.527 

10.343 

5.888 

J J 
> 

Cumberland, . 

1.3092 

1.070 

15.178 

77.252 

6.520 

5.096 

* 

do. . 

1.8050 

• . . 

17.411 

77.350 

5.239 

4.738 

2 

, do . 

1.4023 

.893 

15.237 

74.761 

9.109 

4.906 


' Dauphin and Susquehanna, 

1.4431 

.446 

18.577 

74.214 

11.494 

.... 

i • 

Blossburs, .. 

1.3236 

1.339 

13.927 

73.108 

10.773 


a 2 

Ralston, ~ . 

1.8949 

.670 

18.807 

71.532 

13.961 

s.isi 

fc fc - 
fc ■< 

Quin’s Run, Clinton Co., . 

1.3404 

.131 

18.676 

73.443 

7.750 

3.930 

w > 

* 

Carthaus, Clearfield Co., 

1.2919 

.770 

21.500 

72.643 

5.0S7 

3.378 


Cambria Co.,. 

1.3617 

1.105 

20.255 

69.590 

9.050 

3.435 


f Barr’s Run,. 

1.382 

1.785 

19.782 

67.958 

10.475 

8.435 


Crouch & Snead, .... 

1.451 

1.785 

23.959 

59.976 

14.280 

2.499 


Midlothian,.. 

1.437 

1.172 

27.278 

61.0S3 

10.467 

2.239 


Creek Co.,. 

1.319 

1.450 

29.678 

60.300 

8.572 

2.082 

< 

Clover Hill. 

1.285 

1.339 

81.698 

56.831 

10.132 

1.793 

5 o ' 

Chesterfield, Ms. Co., . . 

1.2S9 

1.896 

30.676 

58.794 

8.634 

1.917 

s e 

do. do. ... 

1.294 

2.455 

29.796 

53 012 

14.737 

1.780 

% 

Tippecanoe,. 

1.346 

1.841 

34.165 

54.620 

S.374 

1.590 

2 

Midlothian, new shaft, . . 

1.325 

.670 

83.490 

56.400 

9.440 

1.6S4 

W 

do. screened,. . . 

1.283 

1.785 

34.497 

54.068 

0.655 

1.567 


do. Navy Yard, . . 

1.390 

1.014 

28.736 

56.112 

14.138 

1.953 


The same experimenter has given the results of his 
examination of foreign bituminous coal, which may serve 
as a point of comparison :— 






















NATURE OF BITUMEN. 


31 


Locality. 

Specific 

Gravity. 

Moisture. 

Volatile 

Matter. 

Fixed 

Carbon. 

Earthy 

Matters. 

Ratio of 
Volatile 
to Fixed 
Matters. 

Plctou No. 1, . 

1.318 

2.567 

27.063 

56.9S1 

13.389 

2.105 

do. No. 2,. 

1.325 

.781 

25.9S5 

60.735 

12.508 

2.503 

Sydney,. 


3.125 

23.8ld 

67.570 

5.495 

2.838 

Liverpool,. 

1.262 

.892 

39.5S7 

54.S99 

4.622 

1.513 

Newcastle,. 

1.257 

2.007 

85.597 

56.996 

5.400 

1.601 

Scotch, . 

1.519 

3.013 

38.837 

48.812 

9.338 

1.257 


Bitumens are viscous matters, ordinarily brown or 
black, which melt with facility at the temperature of 
boiling water, or even below that—but sometimes at a 
more elevated point; solid bitumens are named asphaltes. 

Bituminous deposits are the more or less metamor¬ 
phosed products of organic life of a former geological 
period, which have been forced upwards through the in¬ 
cumbent clays or later deposits, and are found as wells or 
springs of viscid fluid, which harden at the surface and 
edges into a solid asphalt. Bitumen is found as a fluid 
or viscid mass in various parts of Europe ; in France, in 
the Basaltic Tufa of Auvergne, in the Tertiary sands at 
Gabon near Pezenas, at Lobbsan, and at Bechelbronn 
(Lower Rhine), in the upper cretaceous deposits, at Or- 
thez, and at Cauperme near Dax, at Seysell near the 
junction of the Rhone and the Isere in Switzerland ; 
wherever the Alpine bmestone (Calcaire Alpien) is met 
with. In England, elastic bitumen occurs in Derbyshire. 

Asphalt, which is not generally found in Europe, oc¬ 
curs in a thick bed at Arlona in Albania, but is chiefly 
derived from Lake Asphaltites or the Dead Sea ; is found 
at Coquitambo, near Cuenca, Peru ; in the West India 
islands, Barbadoes and Trinidad—in the latter place form¬ 
ing a lake three miles in circumference. 

The deposits of bitumen on the American continent 
are perhaps as numerous as on the eastern. In the 
















32 


LOCALITY OF BITUMEN. 


United States, an extensive development occurs in the 
southern part of California, extending 400 miles along 
the western side of the coast range, close to the shores 
of the Pacific Ocean. At Santa Barbara it is found 
as a brittle, dark asphalt; at Los Angeles, it oozes 
up near the town, and forms a small lake of liquid 
petroleum, which slowly hardens. At San Luis Obispo, 
veins of bitumen intersect the strata which are there ex¬ 
posed and elevated, and in summer they become soft, and 
overflow over the surface of the rock; in winter they 
are almost unimpressible by the finger-nail. 

Liquid bitumen was found on False Washita, near 
Washington Mountains, Kansas, by Lieut. Johnston, 
U. S. A., exuding from a dark sandstone. In Texas, 
within 100 miles of Houston, between Liberty and Beau¬ 
mont, is a small bituminous lake, resembling the pitch 
lake of Trinidad : in winter it is covered with acidulous 
water ; in summer, petroleum oozes up. Around Burks- 
ville, Ky., are several petroleum springs. Mather, in his 
reconnoissance of Kentucky, points out several places 
where petroleum might be collected. 

Hear Pittsburg, on the Alleghany river, a stream of 
petroleum was found in digging or boring for salt, which 
yields at times 1,800 bbls. per day from one point. 

There are few bitumens which do not harden or become 
more solid by exposure to the atmosphere; this may arise 
from two causes: 1st. By the evaporation of the petroline 
or fluid naphtha portion, which the majority of bitumens 
contain ; and 2d. By the oxidation of the bitumen by 
exposure. Solid bitumen or asphalt always contains 
oxygen as an essential constituent, and the fresh fluid¬ 
like petroleum freshly poured out, which contains no oxy¬ 
gen, gradually acquires it as it hardens into asphalt. 


NATURE OF BITUMEN. 


33 


The solid bitumen of the Dead Sea, and that of the 
Tar Lake of Trinidad, as well as the viscid varieties of 
that island, as also of many other parts, as at Bechelbronn 
in France, et cetera , are apparently produced from the 
oxidation of petroleum and their composition, as ex¬ 
hibited in the following formulae : 

Naphtha or petroleum, C 20 His or C 40 H 32 
Asphalt or bitumen, C 4 o II 32 Oo 

which manifests this derivation in a striking manner.— 
(Muspratt.) 

The specific gravity of solid bitumens (asphaltes) 
ranges from 1. to 1.10 ; and no two specimens of bitumen, 
solid or liquid, can be said to have an identical chemical 
constitution. 

Some bitumens are totally insoluble in alcohol; 
others are in part soluble, but none are wholly soluble ; 
most of them are acted on by ether or spirit of turpentine, 
and leave a carbonaceous residue, or some other bitumi¬ 
nous matter not attacked by these solvents, and whose 
point of fusion is different from that of the primitive bitu¬ 
men. When submitted to distillation, they are in part 
separated into the liquids originally present, and in part 
are decomposed into oleaginous liquids. 

According to the researches of Boussingault, the semi¬ 
liquid bitumens are mixtures of two definite principles, 
asphaltine solid and fixed, and petroline fluid and volatile. 
These two substances may be separated by exposing the 
bitumen to the temperature of boiling water in a close 
vessel. 

Petroline is a pale-yellow oil, having a sharp taste, 
and odor of bitumen; specific gravity, .891 at 70°. It 
stains paper, and burns with a smoky flame ; it boils at 
536°, and the density of the vapor is 9.415. It yields, 
3 


34 


NATURE OF BITUMEN. 


on analysis, carbon, 87.3, and hydrogen, 11.9 in 100 
parts, and may be represented by the formula C 40 H 32 , 
which corresponds to a vapor density of 9.50 (4 volumes), 
fts resemblance to naphtha is very close. Alcohol dis¬ 
solves only a small portion of petroline, but the whole is 
removed by keeping the bitumen for 48 hours at a tem¬ 
perature of 472°. The asphaltine remaining behind is 
black, very brilliant, and has a conchoidal fracture ; at 
540° it becomes soft and elastic, and melts before de¬ 
composition ; it burns like resin, and yields on analysis: 



Carbon, 74.2 

Hydrogen, 9.9 
Oxygen, 15.1 


represented by the formula 
C 40 H 32 06 


Asphaltine would thus appear to be merely the result of 
the oxidation of petroline. 

The Burmese naphtha, or Rangoon petroleum, else¬ 
where alluded to in this treatise, is perhaps one of the 
most perfectly altered bitumens that has been brought 
under the notice of chemists. When distilled at 212° F., 
it yields volatile hydro-carbons without any substance 
reacting on it; and the substances which are thus sepa¬ 
rated have boiling points widely apart, some of them being 
above 400° F. As this temperature was not reached in 
the mere distillation, it may be presumed that these 
hydro-carbon oils pre-existed ready formed in the naphtha, 
and when the most volatile of these, the benzine, rises, it 
carries over with it the vapors of the other hydro-carbons ; 
the vapors of all of this class readily diffusing with each 
other. The liquid having the lowest specific gravity, and 
which comes over first by distillation, is an analogue of ben¬ 
zine, and has been termed Sherwoodole; it has analogous 
properties in dissolving grease, &c. It may be eliminated, 
in the same manner as benzole, by means of sulphuric acid. 


NATURE OF BITUMEN. 


35 


The steam distillate at 212° amounts to one-fourth of 
the whole crude liquid. The residue is treated with con¬ 
centrated sulphuric acid, which purifies it from foreign 
matters (which De la Rue and Muller have shown to 
belong to the colophene series). This matter thrown down 
by the acid is of a black color, and seems to he in every 
respect identical with true asphaltum. The purified 
fluid is transferred to a still, and by means of super-heated 
steam, is distilled at temperatures from 300° to 600° F.; 
at 450° it yields a paraffine-like solid, called belmontine. 

Boussingault gives the following as the result of his 
analyses of various bitumens :— 



Bitumen of 
Bechelbronn. 

Liquid Bitumen 
from Hatten, 
Lower Rhine. 

Solid Asphalt, 
Coxitambo, Peru. 

Carbon,. 

87.0 

87.4 

87.3 87.4 

Ilydrogen, . . . 

11.1 

12 .G 

9.7 9.7 

Oxygen and Azote, . 

1.1 

0.4 

1.7 1.6 


The results of the distillation of bitumens will be 
treated of under the chapter on the products of their dis¬ 
tillation. 

Naphtha, mineral naphtha, . petroleum, rock oil, 
Seneca oil—under these terms is included a natural pro¬ 
duct exuding from the strata beneath the soil in many 
countries ; when rectified, it furnishes a transparent vola¬ 
tile liquid, which Dumas considers as a simple compound, 
while Blanchet and Sell, Pelletier and Walter, and others, 
look upon it as a compound fluid containing three, if not 
four, liquids of varying densities. Naphtha contains no 
oxygen, nor has the liquid any tendency to unite with it 
under ordinary circumstances. 

In Moldavia, Galicia, Lower Austria, in France, Eng¬ 
land, and other parts of the globe, paraffine substances are 










36 


NATURE OF PEAT. 


occasionally met with, which by chemists and mineral¬ 
ogists are known as ozocerite, earth wax, and fossil paraf¬ 
fine. Hofstadter has pointed out their general affinities ; 
and, according to Hausman, ozocerite has been long used 
as a candle material as well as paraffine-earth ; it is com¬ 
posed of carbon 86, hydrogen 14. Hatchetine is isomeric 
with the foregoing; as also Middletonite , examined by 
Johnston, and found near Leeds, in England. 

Peat or turf is the result of the slow decomposition of 
grass, moss, carices, sphagnum, and other plants which 
grow in moist situations, where, becoming saturated with 
water, decomposition goes on slowly and in a different 
manner from what occurs with vegetable matter exposed 
to the air. In the case of peat, the bed of vegetable mat¬ 
ter does not increase after being first formed, while, in the 
case of turf, the annual growth of sphagnum, carex, and 
erica, goes on, and dying down in autumn, adds its vege¬ 
table matter to that previously formed, and thus every 
year a superficial layer of vegetable matter, partly de¬ 
composed, is added to the older turf, while the new and 
annual growth flourishes on the surface. 

When freshly cut, peat and turf contain 90 per cent, 
of water, which by air-drying is often reduced to 60 per 
cent. The specific gravity varies partly with the amount 
of water present, but chiefly from the amount of decompo¬ 
sition of the substance ; the blacker, denser, and older the 
peat, the higher is its gravity. Karmarsh found samples 
of Hanover peat to vary from .113 and .240 in young peat, 
to .564 and 1.039 in old peat; and of 27 samples of turf 
examined by Sir E. Kane and Dr. Sullivan, the maximum 
density was 1.058, and the minimum 0.235, the majority 
being below .600. 

The chemical composition of peat differs considerably 


CONSTITUTION OF HYDRO-CARBONS. 


37 


from that of wood: the following samples, from various 
parts of Europe, show its ultimate composition :— 


Locality. 

Carbon. 

Hydrogen 

Oxygen. 

Nitrogen. 

Analyst. 

Vulcaire,. 

Holland,. 

Philips town (Ireland), . 
Tuam “ 

60.40 

59.27 

60.47 

59.55 

5.86 

5.41 

6.09 

5.50 

88.64 

85.35 

32.54 

28.41 

0.886 

1.710 

Mulder. 

44 

Kane and Sullivan. 
Ronalds. 


The following table contains the ordinary ultimate 
composition of the most important varieties of coal and 
turf: the numbers given are selected from analyses made 
by Sir Eobert Kane :— 



Carbon. 

Hydrogen. 

Oxygen and 
Nitrogen. 

Ash. 

Economic value 
of 100 parts. 

Turf,. 

58.09 

5.93 

81.37 

4.61 

171 

Lignite,. 

71.71 

4.85 

21.67 

1.77 

208 

Splint Coal,. 

82.92 

6.49 

10.86 

0.13 

262 

Cannel Coal, .... 

83.75 

5.66 

8.04 

2.55 

260 

Cherry Coal, .... 

84.84 

5.05 

8.43 

1.68 

258 

Coking Coal, .... 

87.95 

5.24 

5.41 

1.40 

271 

Anthracite,. 

91.98 

8.92 

3.16 

0.94 

273 























38 


CONSTITUTION OF HYDRO-CARBONS. 


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CHAPTER III. 


ON THE GENERAL PRINCIPLES INYOLYED IN DESTRUCTIVE 
DISTILLATION. 

Before entering fully upon a description of the vari¬ 
ous products arising from the distillation of coal at tem¬ 
peratures below that of red heat, it is necessary that 
something should be known of the changes which occur 
when animal or vegetable matter is subjected to the action 
of heat. Experiment has shown that these changes vary 
in proportion to the range of temperature. In circum¬ 
stances where the material operated upon is in contact 
with a plentiful supply of heated air not deprived of its 
free oxygen by any act of combustion, the whole or much 
the greater part of the carbon will be burned off as car¬ 
bonic acid; some carbon may remain behind mixed with 
the earthy matters of the organic substance forming the 
ashy coke. The hydrogen in the substance will escape as 
water at first, and if much be present, as carburetted 
hydrogen; and with the nitrogen (if the substance contain 
any) as ammonia, as a carbonate of ammonia. But when 
the exposure to heat is conducted in close vessels, as in 




40 


DESTRUCTIVE DISTILLATION. 


distillation in retorts, another series of changes occurs ; at 
the outset, when the heat is inconsiderable, aqueous vapor, 
organic acids, ammonia, and some combustible fluids 
soluble in water, are given off. As the temperature aug¬ 
ments, carbonic acid, carbonic oxide, water, and a number 
of oleaginous substances not soluble in water, are formed. 
When the temperature rises up to and exceeds a red heat, 
the products are in great part, or wholly, gaseous. 

Destructive distillation may be considered as combus¬ 
tion with a very limited supply of oxygen—merely so 
much as is contained in the substance itself. The results 
of the dry distillation of substances vary in so far as they 
contain or are deficient in nitrogen. Most of the products 
are common to both conditions, but where nitrogen is an 
element, there are many substances formed peculiar to it. 

In the cases of organic substances not containing ni¬ 
trogen, as wood, resin, oils and fats, &c., the chief products 
of distillation are—water, acetic acid, naphtha, or wood 
spirit, volatile oil, tar, paraffine, creosote, &c. 

When the substances contain nitrogen or sulphur, as 
coal, &c., there are added to the foregoing—ammonia, 
aniline, leucol, picoline, lutidine, &c., cyanogen and sul- 
pho-cyanogen compounds. 

And in all cases, an ashy carbonaceous mass remains 
in the retort or still, known as coke. Such are the changes 
produced at temperatures below a red heat; at tempera¬ 
tures above this point, a series of gaseous products only 
are produced : and if there does appear in the ordinary 
manufacture of gas a large amount of the above volatile 
liquids , it is because they are formed when the retort has 
from any cause been cooled down below a red heat, when 
they immediately appear, and are distilled over. 

It is the temperature at which coal is carbonized in 


DESTRUCTIVE DISTILLATION. 


41 


close vessels which determines the nature of the products 
—if it be high, gaseous fluids will be produced ; if it be 
low, volatile vapors (liquids) alone will form. This is 
now so well known by manufacturers of gas, that the ut¬ 
most care is exerted to keep the retorts at a cherry-red 
heat (1400° F.) 

The results of dry distillation are always very com¬ 
plex ; the number of products very great, and difficult of 
separation. 

“ The difficulty of tracing the decomposition of or¬ 
ganic matters by heat arises from variations in the tem¬ 
perature, and the non-removal of substances already 
formed, which in turn are themselves decomposed, and 
the products of two decompositions become mingled to¬ 
gether. Thus, under careful management, the distilla¬ 
tion of acetic acid gives acetone and carbonic acid; 
malic acid gives water, malic acid, and carbonic acid ; 
but if the temperatures change, another set of decomposi¬ 
tions occur, a new set of products are formed, arising from 
the disruption of the atoms of the first; thus acetic acid 
gives marsh gas, and malic acid gives fumaric acid ; 
hence, if substances be taken, through which, either from 
their mass or their non-conducting power, the heat cannot 
be uniformly diffused, a number of different reactions take 
place in different portions at the same time, according to 
their respective temperatures ; the bodies generated in 
the interior are altered as they approach the surface, and 
hence a very high degree of complexity is given to the 
ultimate results.”— (Kane.) 

This is exactly the condition in which the distillation 
of coal is placed ; a mineral having an indifferent con¬ 
ducting power, and in comparatively large masses, exposed 
to a high temperature, becomes unequally acted on, and 


42 


DESTRUCTIVE DISTILLATION. 


frequently, while the interior of the mass is evolving 
vapors, which subsequently condense into oil, the exterior 
is giving off gaseous carburets of hydrogen ; hence the 
necessity of having the coal broken into small fragments. 

In the production of volatile oils from bituminous 
substances, the same attention to temperature must be 
shown ; when a dull red heat (about 800°) is obtained, 
permanent gases begin to form in abundance ; hence, on 
no account should such a temperature be allowed. For all 
practical purposes, 700° will be found sufficient for the 
distillation ; a temperature of 650° to 700° well kept 
up, yields the largest results as to the quantity of fluids 
obtained ; and lower temperatures have been found to 
answer equally well, where super-heated steam thrown 
upon the materials has been used instead of, or as an 
adjunct to, external fire. 

When substances are composed of only three elements 
—carbon, hydrogen, and oxygen—or mainly made up of 
these three, the nature of the change which they will 
undergo on the application of heat, depends to a great 
extent upon the ratio vdfich the oxygen and hydrogen 
bear to each other. When these gases are present in the 
compound, in the proportion which would constitute 
water when united, a very low temperature will suffice to 
draw these elements together to form water, and thus 
deprive the carbon of its share of oxygen, leaving it as a 
dry, hard coke. Should the substance, however, be sud¬ 
denly subjected to a very high temperature, the display 
of affinities would be somewhat different; for while, at 
comparatively low temperatures, oxygen prefers to unite 
with hydrogen rather than with carbon, at higher tem¬ 
peratures, the affinity of oxygen for carbon is more power¬ 
ful, and thus less water is formed, and more of the oxides 


DESTRUCTIVE DISTILLATION. 


43 


of carbon—carbonic oxides or carbonic acid : tbe hydro¬ 
gen thus prevented from uniting with the oxygen, seizes 
an equivalent of carbon, and forms a carbide of hydrogen, 
which may be either a liquid oil or a permanent gas, ac¬ 
cording to the temperature at which it is produced. 

But if the ratio of hydrogen to oxygen in the material 
was not in that proportion to form water, but in much 
larger proportion, then, when heat is applied, the excess 
of hydrogen seizes on the carbon, and appropriates it, 
producing the oleaginous or gaseous carbides. Now the 
proportions of the three elements in which the carbon 
would be fully saturated with either of the other two, 
might be expressed thus :— 


Carbon, 3 
Hydrogen, 3 
Oxygen, 3 


which by mutual 
union would form 


Carbonic acid= C 0 2 
Water = H 0 

Carbide hydrogen = C 2 H 2 


A greater proportion of carbon than that contained in 
the above relation would not tend to unite with the other 
elements, but would remain behind as the coke, or car¬ 
bonaceous residue : when the hydrogen also increases, 
then carbides of hydrogen, richer in both elements than 
the formula given above, will be produced, rising to the 
ratio of C 24 H 2 6, and even upwards. 

The nature of the products then varies in proportion 
as oxygen or hydrogen preponderates in a mineral. In the 
former case, water and carbonic acid will be chiefly formed ; 
in the latter, hydrogen compounds of carbon will pre¬ 
dominate : when these combine at low temperatures, 
many atoms of each element unite with the other to form 
definite volatile, oily, and ethereal liquids ; while at high 
temperatures it is chiefly as gaseous or carburetted hydro¬ 
gen, it is thrown off; and thus, to manufacturers of 
mineral oils, the question of suitable temperature for dis¬ 
tillation becomes the all-important one. 


44 


DESTRUCTIVE DISTILLATION. 


But no matter how large soever the ratio of hydrogen 
and oxygen may be in organic substances when distilled 
in close vessels, the whole of the carbon is never taken 
up, and hence the residual coke or charcoal is a necessary 
result of dry distillation. 

In this distillation, all of the oxygen compounds pass 
off first, the richest in oxygen having the start, and fol¬ 
lowed by others containing less, until the whole oxygen is 
removed, when the hydrogen compounds then are set free ; 
thus, in the decomposition of wood in close vessels, the 
order of production is—water, carbonic acid, acetic acid, 
carbonic oxide ; oils=compounds of carbon and hydrogen, 
with little oxygen ; gas=carbon and hydrogen. 

In the manufacture of charcoal by the destructive dis¬ 
tillation of wood, the object is to get the greatest quantity 
of carbon left behind ; every circumstance which would 
tend to remove more carbon than is necessary to unite 
with the oxygen present, is avoided ; when wood is moist 
or fresh, when placed in the carbonizing oven or retort, 
steam is first produced, which, passing over some portion 
of the wood in strong ignition, tends to be decomposed 
into oxygen and hydrogen, each of which uniting with 
some carbon, forms carbide of hydrogen, HC, and car¬ 
bonic oxide, CO, and thus a less product of charcoal is 
the result; dry wood is therefore preferably used. But 
in the manufacture of oils, the object is not to obtain a 
large amount of coke, or residual carbon, but the reverse ; 
hence, every circumstance which would tend to make 
carbon unite with hydrogen should be adopted. The ad¬ 
mission of steam does this in the abstract, but the com¬ 
pounds so produced have not that polyatomic constitution 
which the mineral oils possess, and hence it cannot be 
affirmed that the formation of steam in the retort, or its 


DESTRUCTIVE DISTILLATION. 


45 


admission during distillation, increases in a direct manner 
•the formation of photogenic oils. But of its indirect 
benefit there can be no doubt, and it, in that case, prob¬ 
ably acts partly by keeping the retort at a lower tem¬ 
perature, and partly by assisting to carry off the vapors as 
they are generated, and by thus relieving the pressure in 
the retort, tend to hasten the further evolution of the oils. 

Organic substances containing much carbon are gen¬ 
erally distilled for the following objects : 

1. To obtain charcoal. 

2. “ vinegar. 

3. “ gas for lighting purposes. 

4. “ photogenic oils. 

And for the economical manufacture of each, strict at¬ 
tention is required to the temperature at which the dis¬ 
tillation is produced. The 1st and 2d objects are generally 
effected simultaneously; but the 3d and 4th cannot be 
profitably carried out along with the 1st and 2d objects ; 
nor can Nos. 3 and 4 be carried on together without loss 
of either class of products—the temperature necessary to 
produce No. 3 being such as would ultimately decompose 
any volatile oil produced. 

The temperature at which the separation of the con¬ 
stituents of organic substances takes place, involves a 
large thermometric range, commencing with 300°, and 
running up to 2732° Fahrenheit. 

The tendency of destructive distillation is to produce 
compounds possessing more simplicity of composition than 
the original substance, and capable of sustaining the 
higher temperatures at which they form, unaltered; so 
that, under the range of temperature indicated, liquids 
will be formed when the temperature is least, as at the 
commencement, and gases when the heat has arisen to 


46 


DESTRUCTIVE DISTILLATION. 


the high point set down ; and as in the lower ranges 
where liquids are produced, the effect of augmented heat 
within this lower range is to lessen the complexity of the 
compound by dropping or reducing its amount of carbon 
or of hydrogen, it is at the very lowest temperatures that 
the liquids containing the highest number of atoms of 
carbon and hydrogen will be found; and when the tem¬ 
perature arises to that of formation of gas, this gas (a 
carbide of hydrogen) is produced at the expense of the 
complex liquids formed at first, which give off some car¬ 
bide of hydrogen and thus have their proportions simplified. 
Thus, let C 14 H s lose C 2 H 2 or one equivalent of olefiant 
gas, and Ci 2 H 6 remains; if two proportions of this 
latter, or C 24 Hi 2 , lose six equivalents of carbon by heat, 
Ci 8 Hi 2 remains ; and if four equivalents of Ci 2 H 6 or 
C 4 s H 24 lose one equivalent of olefiant gas, C 2 H 2 , one 
equivalent of marsh gas, C H, and 25 equivalents of 
carbon, there would remain C 20 H 2 i : now the first sup¬ 
position would show a probable formation of benzole from 
toluene : the second, the formation of cumene from the 
doubled atom of benzole : and the third, the formation 
of paraffin from a quadrupled atom of benzole. 

The above, though not perhaps strictly representing 
the order of decomposition, serves to show the result of 
augmented temperatures, viz.: the gradual loss of C H, 
and consequently the destruction of the polymeric isomer¬ 
ic hydro-carbons formed at low temperatures; and will, 
perhaps, also assist in showing, what is desired to be en¬ 
forced everywhere in this work, that the smallest range 
of temperature above that necessary to evolve or produce 
photogenic oils, is sufficient of itself to bring about their 
destruction. 


CHAPTER IV. 


ON THE PRODUCTS OBTAINED PROM THE DESTRUCTIVE 
DISTILLATION OF COAL. 

Peat, wood, and coal, when subjected to distillation 
at a red heat, or any temperature sufficiently powerful to 
destroy the existing condition of the arrangement of their 
atoms, afford three distinct classes of products, tar, watery 
fluid, and gas. The proportion of these to each other, 
and the exact nature of the several products, depends 
upon the nature of the crude material, and the conditions 
under which it is distilled. If the decomposition be 
effected with great rapidity, that is, at a very high red 
heat, the products will be mostly gaseous—permanently 
elastic compounds; and the proportion of tar will corre¬ 
spondingly diminish. 

The quantity of tar depends upon the two conditions 
stated, and the proportion of photogenic oils derivable 
therefrom is dependent, 1st, on the constitution of the 
crude tar, and 2d, on the temperature at which the second 
distillation is performed. 

When coal is distilled in close vessels, as in the manu¬ 
facture of gas, heavy volatile vapors are carried over by 



48 


PROPERTIES OF TAR. 


the heated gas, and deposited in the hydraulic main in the 
form of tar. 

Tarry matters commence to he generated when the 
temperature rises to 300°, between which and 900° tar is 
formed most abundantly ; when the retort or still exceeds 
that temperature, tar is formed more sparingly, and when 
formed, it is in part decomposed within the generating 
vessel. 

Tar is a brownish-black viscous liquid, thickening by 
exposure to the air, having a peculiar persistent empyreu- 
matic odor. The specific gravity of tar varies from 880° 
to 975°. That furnished by coal is always the most dense, 
while turf, schist or slate, and lignite, furnish the lighter 
tars. That yielded by bituminous schists has the least 
specific gravity. 

Tar almost always has an alkaline reaction; seldom 
neutral or acid : it solidifies from the presence of paraffin, 
and absorbs oxygen from the air, the color becoming dark 
brown (the original color being coffee-brown), and occa¬ 
sionally blackish. 

The distillation of tar from coal was first effected at 
different periods, both in England and other European 
countries, without any profitable return ; in the year 
1781, the Earl of Dundonald invented a mode of distil¬ 
ling coal for that purpose, and at the same time to form 
coke. 

The amount of tar derived from close distillation of 
coal varies, as stated above, with the exhibition of the 
heat. When the process is conducted slowly, and below 
700° F., a large yield is obtained, varying from 16 to 60 
gallons and upward, per ton. 

The amount has been lately shown to be so dependent 
on the temperature, that there is little doubt when the 


PRODUCE OF TAR. 


49 


latter shall be exhibited judiciously, that 100 gallons 
per ton will not be considered an unusual amount: 
one-half that amount is at present looked upon as a 
large yield. 

Pecks ton, in his history of Gas Lighting, published 
in 1823, describes the results of the treatment of coal 
tar thus :— 

u When coal tar is distilled in close vessels, it yields 
an essential oil known by the name of oil of tar ; this 
process requires to be carried on with a very moderate 
heat.” After describing the phenomena occurring in the 
distillation, he says the oil has the quality of inferior oil 
of turpentine, and might be used for varnishes ; alludes 
to the residual pitch as resembling asphaltum, and notices 
the obtaining a lighter fluid (naphtha) by redistilling the 
oil of tar : from the results of experiments on 50 tons of 
tar he estimates the product of 1 gallon=9J lbs. avoirdu¬ 
pois, as 

6.84 lbs. Pitch, 

1.26 quarts Oil Tar, 

.46 pints Spirits of Tar. 

This rate of production may be contrasted with the 
following results given by Muspratt as the average yield¬ 
ed by the present improved manufacture :—1 ton of coal 
yields 15 gallons of tar, and two barrels of tar of 4\ each, 
or 9 cwt., lose by distillation Jth, which is composed of 
1 J cwt. and 15 lbs. of essential oil, and 1 quarter and 13 
lbs. of water ; 6| cwt. of fatty pitch remains in the 
retort. 

But little was done in the further determining either 
the constitution of coal tar or its commercial value, until 
the researches of Laurent and Reichenbach led Mansfield, 
Selligue, and others, to turn their attention to utilize the 
4 



50 


PRODUCE OF TAR. 


liquids derivable from it, for, in fact, the distillation of 
coal has been considered, until very lately, only in its re¬ 
lation to the production of gas for illuminating purposes, 
in the manufacture of which, tar was always a certain, 
and frequently a large product. The composition of this 
tar has been examined by Bunge, 1 Keichenbach, 2 Lau¬ 
rent, 3 Hoffman, 4 Mansfield, 5 Anderson, 6 and Williams. 7 

In examining the results arrived at by these different 
experimenters, a difference in the substances obtained is 
found, from which it would appear, as might be expected, 
that tars formed at different temperatures contain differ¬ 
ent hydro-carbons. 

In the details of the manufacture, more minute results 
of the amount of production of tar will be given. Where 
the temperature is above a low red heat, the tar dimin¬ 
ishes, and the quantity of tar produced by distillation of 
coal for gas has been variously estimated, by many super¬ 
intendents of gas works, at 12J gallons (282 cubic inches) 
per ton ; by Peckston, 1J cwt. per ton ; by Lloyd, 2 cwt. 
per ton. 

From the experiments of Barlow and Wright, the 
following amounts of tar are produced from the following 
varieties of coal, per ton :— 


Lbs. weight of Tar. 
102 
98 
248 
225 


Pelton Main, 

New Castle Carmel, 
Wigan, 

Youghgelly Cannel, 


1 Annal de Poggend., XXXI., 65, 512, and XXXII., 308, 323. 

3 Ibid , XXXI., 497. 3 Annal de Chim., III., 195. 

4 Ann. der Chem. u. Phar., XLVIII., 1. 

8 Ibid, LXIX., 163, and Quarterly Jour. Chemical Soc., 7. 

8 Philos. Mag., XXXIII., 174. 

7 Chem. Gazette, 1855, p. 401. 


TAR FROM CANNEL COAL. 


51 


Lbs. weight of Tar. 


Boghead, 738 

Lismahago, 598 

Kamsay Cannel, 295 

Derbyshire deep Main, 219 

Wemyss, 210 


While the foregoing serve as points of comparison by 
which the bituminous character of the various coals may 
be estimated, it forms no reliable datum as to the absolute 
amount of tar which may be extracted from those coals. 
As this was a bye-product of gas making, in which much 
of the tar is lost, the figures here are very much below 
the true product. Allowing 8£ lbs. as the weight of the 
gallon of tar, the Boghead coal produced 86 gallons, which 
is certainly no correct estimate of its real yield under 
lower temperatures. 

The Breckenridge Cannel coal is perhaps the most 
highly bituminous coal known. The quantity of tarry oil 
which it yields is 32 lbs. to every 100 lbs. of coal, or nearly 
^d, or above 820 gallons the long ton : this statement 
from Silliman’s Journal (Vol. XXY, p. 285), appears an 
over-statement. The Haddock's Cannel coal (Owsley 
Co.,) yields from 55 to 60 gallons of crude oil to the ton, 
and from 27 to 30 of purified oil. 

The yield of Kentucky coal is given by Hr. Peters, in 
the 2d report on the Geological Survey of Kentucky, the 
oil being that produced from 1000 grains of coal:— 



Crude Oil. 

Ammoniacal 

Water. 

Coke. 

Gas, 

cubic inches. 

Breckenridge Cannel,. 

818.20 

52.10 

455. 

445 

Haddocks Cannel,. 

248.50 

54.50 

589. 

370 

Union Co. mine, bottom part, . . 

148. 

38. 

750. 

465 

Mulford’s, 5 foot, main coal,. . . 

136.50 

64.75 

684. 

567 

Muddy River coal,. 

102.10 

119.80 

659.50 

870 

Ice House coal,. 

108. 

73. 

714. 

465 

Youghiogheny coal,. 

136. 

52. 

710. 

545 















52 


DISTILLATION OF TURF. 


Wagenmann examined turf, "brown coal, and bituminous 
slate, to determine the yield of tar. The two samples of 
turf were from Newmark : coal A and B from the Mark ; 
C from Prussian Saxony, and the slate from the Rhine 
country. He obtained the following results :— 


1. Firm, dark brown Turf, yielding at 110°, 33.58 per cent, of 
water, and 6.76 per cent, of ash.— 


100 parts of Turf gave 


Coke, 

27.70 

Ammoniacal liquor, 

50.01 

Tar, 

4.89 

Gas and steam, 

17.40 


100 parts of this Tar 

yielded 

Photogen, 

8.90 

Solar oil, 

22.56 

Solidified paraffin mass. 

, 39.73 

Carbonaceous residue, 

22.60 

Loss, 

6.21 


2. Brown Turf, with a fibrous mossy structure, yielding 36.23 per 
cent, moisture, and 5.49 per cent ash.— 


100 parts of Turf gave 


100 parts of this Tar yielded 

Coke, 

25.77 

Photogen, 

7.32 

Ammoniacal liquor, 

58.03 

Solar oil, 

21.66 

Tar, 

5.19 

Paraffin mass, 

46.03 

Gas and steam, 

11.11 

Carbonaceous matters, 
Loss, 

12.77 

12.22 


3. Brown Coal (A), dark brown, firm; sp. gr. = 1.369, yielding 
29.27 per cent, water, and 7.018 per cent. ash.— 


100 parts of Coal gave 

100 parts of this Tar ga 

ve 

Coke, 

37.66 

Photogen, 

8.05 

Ammonia, 

36.69 

Solar oil, 

45.47 

Tar, 

5.96 

Paraffin mass, 

28.52 

Gas and steam, 

19.96 

Charcoal, 

13.09 



Loss, 

4.87 


4. Brown coal (2?), brown color when dried, breaking readily, with 
ligneous fibres intermixed, and here and there crystals of sulphate of 
iron scattered throughout; sp. gr.=1.252, yielding 39.58 per cent, 
water, and 3.43 per cent of ash.— 






DISTILLATION OF COAL. 


53 


100 'parts of Coal gave 


100 parts Tar yield 


Coke, 

30.43 

Photogen, 

9.10 

Ammoniacal solution, 

48.41 

Solar oil, 

38.93 

Tar, 

4.02 

Paraffin mass, 

39.43 

Gas and steam, 

17.17 

Carbon, 

9.30 



Loss, 

3.24 


5. Brown coal (£), moist, dark brown, masses the size of a large 
bean; sp. gr.=1.209, yielding 45.258 per cent, water, and 9.83 per 
cent, of ash.— 


100 parts of Coal gave 


100 parts of Tar yield 


Coke, 

27.36 

Photogen, 

8.51 

Tar, 

9.51 

Solar oil, 

41.48 

Water, 

49.85 

Paraffin mass, i 

41.10 

Sal ammoniac, 

0.20 

(14 per cent, paraffin) \ 

Pyrogenic oil, 

0.04 

Carbon, 

5.55 

Gas and steam, 

13.04 

Loss, 

3.36 


6 . Paper coal; sp. gr.=1.264, containing 19.9 per cent, moisture, 
and 23.52 per cent. ash.— 


100 parts of this Slate gave 


100 parts of Tar yield 

Residues, with some 

> 

35.69 

Photogen, 

32.50 

Carbon=| per cent, 


Solar oil, 

6.33 

Water, some potash, 


32.09 

Paraffin mass, 

51.25 

and ammonia, 

\ 

Charcoal, 

8.92 

Tar, 


25.11 

Loss, 

1.00 

Gas and steam, 


7.11 




100 parts of the 

substances 

examined 

yield, there- 

fore— 








Light Oil. 

Heavy Oil. 

Crude 



Photogen. 

Solar Oil. 

Paraffin. 

1. Turf, 


0.435 

1.104 

1.943 

2. Turf, 


0.380 

1.124 

1.389 

3.] 

A 

0.480 

2.710 

1.700 

4. }• Brown coal, 

B 

0.366 

1.565 

1.585 

5.J 

G 

0.810 

3.940 

3.910 

6 . Paper coal, 


8.160 

1.590 

12.870 


Paper coal is consequently the most profitable material 






54 


DISTILLATION OF LIGNITE. 


for the production of the light oil: yet the use of brown 
coal, and even turf, is profitable, where the residual coke 
is a desirable substance to obtain. 

Schroeder made an analysis of the bituminous slate 
from Bruchsal, which yielded in 100 parts—2.5 to 3. per 
cent, water, 4. to 6. tar, and 100 to 150 c. feet of gas ; 
from 100 parts tar, 62 parts of liquid volatile oil was 
distilled, whose boiling point usually ranged between 100° 
and 350°. 

Engelbach, an assistant in the Giessen laboratory, ex¬ 
amined the bituminous slate near Bielefeld, which gave 
71.20 per cent, of ash. 100 parts yielded— 

78 parts fixed residues, with charcoal. 

14 parts watery liquid. 

1.47 light oil, of sp. gr. 879. 

1.03 heavy oil, of sp. gr. 955. 

0.37 butyric fat. 

0.87 asphaltic fat. 

Fresenius made an examination of the brown coal of 
the Westerwald : as regards the products obtained by 
dry distillation, 100 parts gave— 


Mine. 

Variety. 

Coke. 

Tarry 

Liquid. 

Tar. 

Sp. Gr. of 
Tar. 

Gases. 

Oranien, 

Small coal, 

81.97 

44.72 

5.87 

1.043 

17.94 

Orainen, 

Lump coal, 
Small coal, 
Lump coal, 
Lignite, dried, 

84.86 

40.77 

8.19 

0.952 

21.1T 

Nassau, 

81.28 

43.69 

8.78 

1.064 

21.29 

Nassau, 

81.22 

43.07 

2.86 

1.041 

22.80 

Oranien, 

84.21 

42.88 

5.61 

1.079 

17.85 

Nassau, 

Lignite, ) 

air-dried, j 

86.42 


5.88 

1.072 

12.60 


By operating on the crude tarry matters, the following 
ratio of products were also obtained by Fresenius : 

100 parts of air-dried coal yielded— 











PRODUCE IN OILS. 


55 


Mine. 

Variety. 

Crude Tar. 

Thin Oil. 

Thick Oil. 

Asphalt. 

Oranien, 

Small coal, 

5.37 

1.64 

0.41 

0.72 

Oranien, 

Lump coal, 

3.19 

0.85 

0.60 

0.44 

Nassau, 

Lump coal, 

3.78 

1.S4 

0.47 

0.02 

Nassau, 

Small coal, 

2.86 

1.06 

0.26 

0.51 

Both Mines, 

Lignite, 

5.88 

3.01 

1.16 

1.16 


The purification of the oils was effected by treatment 
with sulphuric acid and bichromate of potash, followed by 
potass ley, and then another distillation. 

Fresenius estimates the yield from 100 parts of crude 
oil, to be 70 parts pure oil. 

P. Wagenmann has communicated the following table, 
showing the products of distillation of the various raw 
materials, which yield photogen and paraffin, when exam¬ 
ined with the care which the analytic chemist bestows 
upon such investigations :— 


Name. 

Locality. 

Tar, 
per cent. 

Specific 
Gravity. ' 

Crude 

Essence, 

from 

700 to 850 
sp. gr. 

Crude 

Oil, 

from 

850 to 900 

sp. gr. 

Crude 

Paraffin. 

Trinidad pitch, 

Trinidad, 

70 

.875 

40 

20 

17a 

Boghead coal, 

Scotland, 

33 

.860 

12 

18 

17 4 

Torbane mineral, 

44 

31 

.861 

11 

16 

174 

Dorset shale, 

Dorsetshire, England, 

9 

.910 

1 

6 

730 

Rangoon naphtha, 

Burmah, 

80 

.870 

50 

20 

3 

Belmar turf, 

Ireland, 

3 

.920 

1 

1 

7s 

Georges bitumen, 

Neuwied, 

29 

.865 

8y 4 

14 

174 

Paper coal, No. 1, 

Siebengebirge, 

20 

.880 

6 

9 

74 

“ No. 2, 

44 

15 

.880 

5 

7 

7a 

“ No. 3, 

44 

11 

.880 

3 

6 

7a 

44 U 

Hesse, 

25 

.880 

6 

12 

1 

44 44 

Rhenish provinces, 

11 

.880 

3 

5 

7a 

U 44 

Bonn, 

4 

.930 

Vio 

3 

74 

Brown coal, 

Saxony (province), 

7 

.910 

2 

3 

7a 

44 

Kingdom Saxony, 

10 

.920 

2 

4 

74 

44 

44 44 

6 

.915 

7a 

4 

7a 

44 

44 44 

5 

.910 

7a 

31 

74 

44 

44 44 

6 

.910 

7* 

4* 

7 3 

44 

44 44 

H 

.920 

2 

5 

l 

44 

44 44 

6 

.910 

1 

4 

7a 

44 

44 44 

4 

.910 

1 

2 

7s 

44 

44 44 

H 

.920 

2 

5 

7s 

44 

Thuringen, 

5 

.918 

17a 

1 

74 

44 

44 

5 

.920 

74 

31 

74 

44 

Neuwied, 

5 i 

.920 

1 

5 

7a 

41 

Bohemia, 

u 

.860 

3 

5 

74 

44 

Westerwald, 

51 

.910 

17a 

U 


44 

44 


.910 

1 

1 


44 

Nassau, 

4 

.910 

2 

n 


44 

44 

3 

.910 

1 

i 


41 

Frankfort, 

9 

.890 

2 

6 




























56 


CONSTITUTION OF TAR. 


Name. 

Locality. 

Tar, 

per cent. 

Specific 

Gravity. 

Crude 

Essence, 

from 

700 to 850 

sp. gr. 

Crude 

Oil, 

from 

850 to 900 

ep. gr. 

Crude 

Panfffin. 

Lignite, 

Silesia, 

3 

.890 

Vie 

2 

7T 

Lias slate, 

Vindee, 

14 

.870 

5 

7 

1 

“ 

Westphalia, 

5 

.920 

u/a 

1 

Vao 

Naphtha clay, 

Gallicia, 

8 

.890 

1 

n 

Vie 

Turf, 

Newmark, 

5 

.910 

1 

8 

Vs 

u 

Hanover, 

9 

.920 

■»7 10 

5 

Vn 

Black, or Pit coal. 

Steier Mark, 

8 

.890 

1 

5* 

v 4 

U U 

U 

6 

.890 

Ya 

4 

Ve 

White coal, 

Australia, 

17 

.870 

6 

8 

1 


Coal Tar is found to contain 3 classes of substances— 
acids, alkalies, and neutral substances ; of the latter class 
the tar is mainly composed.* These substances may he 


thus set forth:— 

Acids. 

Bases. 

Neutrals. 

Rosalie, 

Ammonia, N H 3 

Benzin, C, 2 H 6 

Brnnolic, 

Aniline, C, 2 H 7 N 9 

Toluene, C 14 H 8 

Carbolic, or i 
creosote, ) 

Ficoline, C, 2 H 7 N 

Cumene, C 18 H, a 

Quinoline > 

Naphthaline, C 20 H 8 


(leucol), J ° 18 7 N 

Paranaphthaline, C 30 H 


Parvoline, C 18 H, s N 

Chrysene, C, 2 H 6 


Pyredine, C, 0 H 5 N 

Pyrene, C 16 H a 


Lutidlne, C, 4 H 9 N 

Paraffine, C 20 H 21 


Collidine, 

Ampeline. 


There are, in all probability, many other substances 
not yet sufficiently isolated to be described, which are 
isomeric with many of the preceding : this is most proba¬ 
bly true of the basic substances. The interesting fact 
about these substances is, as may be seen by inspection 
of the table, that they all contain only one equivalent of 
nitrogen, and that, with one or two exceptions, they rise 
by regular gradations of two of carbon and two of hydro¬ 
gen, in progressive series, thus—10+5, 12 + 7, 14+9, 
18+13—and so on ; besides which, they are all isomeric, 
or possess exactly the same composition with another 
series of bases known as the Aniline series to chemists. 


* Gerhardt, Chem. Organ, Vol. IV, p. 426. 












CONSTITUTION OF TAR. 


57 


Ammonia exists only in small amount in the tar 
proper, hut the water distilled over with the tar contains 
the whole of the ammoniacal salts, which can be profitably 
extracted : the remaining bases are so small in amount, 
and their properties so little known, that they are objects 
of chemical curiosity. In a description of the distillation 
of coals for practical purposes, the consideration of the 
bases may be therefore passed over. 

Of the acids enumerated, but one is worthy of any 
notice—carbolic acid ; under the name of creosote, this 
substance has been long known, and widely used for its 
many valuable properties. 

Among the neutral bodies the coal oils belong; the 
photogenic liquids derived from the distillation of coals 
are all enumerated in the above list, which contain three 
liquid and six solid substances : excluding the latter, the 
known photogenic liquids in tar are comparatively few in 
number ; the amount of oils or liquid substances, com¬ 
pared with the solid matter, is, however, so much greater, 
that the great bulk of the tar is made up of them: of 
these, perhaps toluene and cumene are the preponderating 
ingredients. 

Future investigations may show that tar contains 
among its neutral bodies many other constituents than 
those enumerated : when homologous bodies co-exist in a 
compound liquid having their specific gravity and boiling 
points so close to each other, it is a matter of great diffi¬ 
culty to separate each in that purity in which its proper¬ 
ties may be examined, and also difficult to state, with 
accuracy, all of the substances present. 

The tars of bitumens, bituminous schists, and turf, 
contain many of the substances enumerated here, but they 
also contain fluid oils and solids, in the class of neutral 


58 


CONSTITUENTS OF TAR. 


bodies not found in coal tar : hence, the photogenic oils 
derived from these sources are not always the same chemi¬ 
cal substances with those now under consideration, al¬ 
though their photometric value may be precisely the same, 
dependent upon the proportion of carbon contained in the 
oil. 

The most natural mode of describing the substances 
produced in distillation would be to take the products in 
the order in which they appear in the condenser or re¬ 
ceiver, on the gradual augmentation of the heat applied ; 
this method is accordingly adopted. 

One of the first products which comes over, in com¬ 
pany with a large amount of water, is a mixture of vola¬ 
tile hydro-carbons, which has received the name of crude 
naphtha, and when further distilled, is known as rectified 
coal naphtha ; this is further purified by mixing it with 
ten per cent, of concentrated sulphuric acid, agitating, and 
setting aside for some hours to rest : when the mixture is 
cold, five per cent, of peroxide of manganese is added, and 
the upper portion submitted to distillation. This mode 
of purification has been recommended by the late Prof. 
Gregory, of Edinburgh. The specific gravity of the recti¬ 
fied naphtha is 0.850 : it is used extensively as a solvent 
of caoutchouc, and other allied gums, and also of resins 
for the preparation of varnish. By repeated purification 
and fractional distillation, what is termed benzole or ben¬ 
zine, by Pelouze, and others, is obtained: naphtha being a 
heterogeneous liquid, made up of several hydro-carbons, of 
which benzine is the most abundant and important. 

The numerous applications of which this liquid is sus¬ 
ceptible, renders it one of the most valuable substitutes 
for alcohol, ether, turpentine, and other fluids in common 
use, as a menstruum for dissolving gums, resins, and other 


PROPERTIES OF BENZIN. 


59 


commercial products. Its property of dissolving fat, 
renders it useful for cleaning cloth, leather, &c., from 
spots of grease, wax, tar, or resin, without any resulting 
injury to the color, or permanent odor to the fabric. 

Mr. Grace Calvert has pointed out the application of 
this property in the manufacture of carpets : it had been 
necessary to oil “ slubbing wool ” before being spun, and 
necessary to remove the oil subsequently, so that the 
color might be more bright; but this removal was very 
difficult, and hence the brilliancy of the colors were in¬ 
jured by the presence of the oil, and the carpet soon 
became faded : but by the use of benzole this oil can be 
readily removed, and thus the fabric is capable of receiv¬ 
ing a brilliant dye.* 

When treated with strong nitric acid, benzine produces 
“ nitro-benzole,” a substance which is now much used as 
a substitute for Oil of Bitter Almonds, in perfumery: it 
is not acted on by ordinary sulphuric acid, but with the 
anhydrous acid it forms a conjugated acid. 

Benzole boils at 186° ; density of the vapor = 2.38. 
At 32° it crystallizes in a gelatinous mass, which melts 
at 44.6° ; it is insoluble in water, but very soluble in 
alcohol and ether. On account of its rapid evaporation, 
Mansfield applied it for the purpose of impregnating gases 
by passing them through a layer of it; or by suspending 
cloths soaked with it in an atmosphere renewed by a fan 
or blast. The air, when saturated, burns on account of 
the quantity of vapor present. The evaporation of the 
benzole, in this process, produces so much cold as, after a 
time, to check further evaporation ; and hence, this me¬ 
thod of producing gas is beset with practical difficulties 
not yet fully overcome. 

* Trans. London Society of Arts. 


60 


COMPOSITION OF LIGHT OILS. 


The formula representing the composition of benzine 
is C 12 H 6 ; the substance yields an analysis, in 100 parts— 
carbon 86, and hydrogen 14. As it contains no oxygen, 
and, when pure, does not absorb oxygen from the air, it 
is used to preserve the oxidizable metals, as potassium, 
&c., from contact with the atmosphere. It yields, when 
burned, nothing but carbonic acid and water; when 
sufficient air is not supplied, carburetted hydrogen is pro¬ 
duced, and carbon deposited unconsumed. 

The light oils of tar which remain, after rectification, 
on the surface of the water of the main or condenser, are 
applied, together with the heavy oils, to the preservation 
of wood from rotting. The permeation of the pores of the 
wood is effected by placing the latter in close iron tanks, 
exhausting the air, and then forcing the oil into the in¬ 
terior of the wood by a pressure of 100 to 150 lbs. to the 
square inch. 

These oils are usually toluene, with some cumene, and 
form a transparent yellow fluid of .820 specific gravity, 
having the odor peculiar to such distillates ; they often 
contain a good deal of sulphide of carbon : when not sepa¬ 
rated, the sulphide produces unpleasant results, when 
used in rooms, by the formation of sulphuric acid. 

The following is a summary of the physical and chem¬ 
ical properties of these liquids :— 

Toluene was discovered by Pelletier and Walter among 
the oily products arising from the treatment of resins. 
Deville obtained it from resin of Tolu, by distillation. 
Cahours, in the oily liquid which separates from wood 
spirit, by adding to it; and Mansfield found it as one of 
the residues of distillation of coal tar ; he obtained it by 
rectifying tar, by fractional distillation, and separating 
that portion which distils between 212° and 382° ; this 


LIGHT OILS. 


61 


liquid is washed with half its weight of strong sulphuric 
acid, and rectified anew. It is a colorless oil, very fluid, 
not soluble in water, sparingly soluble in alcohol, and 
more soluble in ether ; its odor is similar to benzine ; spe¬ 
cific gravity=.870 ; of vapor=3.260 ; it boils at 237°, 
(G-erhardt) at 230°. It dissolves in fuming sulphuric acid, 
and produces a conjugated acid, the sulpho-toluenic acid. 
Nitric acid transforms it into an oily fluid, nitro-toluene ; 
chlorine acts rapidly on it, forming various chlorides ; by 
oxidation, it is converted into benzoic acid. The formula 
representing its composition is C 14 H 8 . 

Nitro-toluene crystallizes, from its hot alcoholic solu¬ 
tion, in broad plates : it dissolves in pyroxylic spirit, sul¬ 
phide of carbon, and the fat and volatile oils in the same 
degree as in the spirit of wine; it is very sparingly 
soluble in cold alcohol. 

Cumene (cumol) accompanies the foregoing in the 
coal tars ; and in the oil of wood-spirit it is mixed with 
benzine, xylene, and cymene, from which it is separated 
by fractional distillation : it is colorless, lighter than water, 
of a sweet, agreeable odor, and volatilizes unaltered ; its 
boiling point is 314° 5 ; insoluble in water, but soluble 
in alcohol, ether, and essential oils ; it forms a conjugated 
acid with sulphuric acid. Nitric acid, in the cold, does 
not affect it, but on application of heat, a heavy oil, 
nitro-cumene, is formed. Its formula is Ci 8 Hi 2 .—(Ger- 
Jiardt.) 

Both of these oils are highly fluorescent. 

These photogenic oils, when pure, should be colorless, 
and without smell, or with a faintly aromatic odor. Those 
which smell of creosote always char the wicks, and pro¬ 
portionally with the amount of the impurity. The char¬ 
ring of the wick is consequently a test of an impure oil, or 


62 


LIGHT OILS. 


one which contains carbolic acid ; as Vohl has distinctly 
proved. The article sold under the name of double puri¬ 
fied coal oil contains 6 to 7 per cent, of creosote. The 
oil obtained from paper coal on sale in the German towns, 
contains 10 to 12 per cent. The method of separating 
the creosote is described further on. 

These two oils are, as has been already stated, the 
valuable photogenic oils, and form the great bulk of the 
product. It is not possible to state, & priori, how much 
of each of these are present in any coal oil, as it depends 
on the temperature at which they are distilled. These 
oils commence to come over with the last portions of 
naphtha (benzole), and they continue to be distilled until 
the temperature approaches 400°. As the boiling point 
of toluene is 237°, and that of cumene 314°, the first por¬ 
tions of the light oil will be chiefly toluene, and the last 
portions cumene, and if the distillation be conducted from 
the outset at a very high temperature, but little toluene 
may be formed. The lighter the oil, the better is it 
adapted for burning in lamps ; and hence the tar distilled 
at temperatures not exceeding 320° contain most toluene, 
while the cumene preponderates when the temperatures is 
rapidly driven up to and sustained near 400°. This result 
of a high temperature should be attended to in the manu¬ 
facture. 

Ampeline is a substance resembling creosote, which 
Laurent has obtained when the distillation runs between 
392° and 536°. The crude oil, washed several times with 
concentrated oil of vitriol, is then mixed with T V or 7 l T of its 
volume of caustic potassa in solution ; allowed to rest for 
24 hours, the liquid separates into two layers, of which 
the lower watery solution is the most abundant: this is 
drawn off, and agitated with sulphuric acid, which sepa- 


CARBOLIC ACID. 


63 


rates an oily liquid lighter than the fluid : this oil is 
drawn off with a pipette, and treated with water, in which 
it dissolves, and separates thus any adhering oil; this re¬ 
maining fluid is ampeline ; almost pure, it resembles a 
fluid fat oil, dissolves in alcohol, and in all proportions in 
ether ; does not solidify at 35° below zero. 

The oils which distil over between 340° and 400°, or 
even 440°, contain creosote. This substance, first de¬ 
scribed by Keichenbach, is not now generally admitted 
among the list of true compounds, hut, if not identical 
with carbolic acid, at least contains a large percentage 
of that substance united with it ; it has a specific 
gravity of 1.037, and boils at 397° 4 ; on exposure to 
cold, it does not crystallize ; this last property, and its 
boiling point, are the only differences which exist between 
it and carbolic acid, and as the other properties and uses 
of both are alike, the one description will suffice. 

They are obtained from the oils by treating the latter 
with potash, agitating, and distilling the mass ; by re¬ 
peated rectifications with solid potash, the pure liquid is 
obtained ; the potash liquor is treated with an acid, when 
the impure carbolic acid separates. 

It is an oily liquid, highly refractive, fluorescent. 
Carbolic acid crystallizes by evaporation from its ethereal 
solution in small prisms, which occasionally melt into 
liquid at temperatures below which the crystals formed. 
The crystals melt at 94°. The specific gravity of pure 
carbolic acid is 1062 to 1065. It is powerfully antiseptic 
and poisonous, and coagulates albumen ; its preserving 
property is not due to the latter quality ; it unites with 
bases, and forms salts. Sulphuric acid forms a coupled 
acid with it ; nitric acid, chlorine and bromine, form acids 
with it by substitution. 


64 


CREOSOTE—CARBOLIC ACID. 


The liquid with these properties is obtained from coal 
tar, and, therefore, almost all the substance now found in 
cumene under the name of creosote, is, in reality, carbolic 
acid. Wood-tar furnishes the variety of this acid known 
as creosote. 

The composition of carbolic acid is expressed by the 
formula C 12 H 6 0 2 , and may be supposed to be formed 
from benzole C 12 H 6 , by the addition of 2 equivalents of 
oxygen. 

Carbolic Acid , or Creosote , possesses extraordinary 
antiseptic properties, presenting, to a great extent, the 
putrefaction of animal substances. Mr. Calvert has used 
it as a preservative of bodies for dissection, and also to 
preserve skins of animals intended to be stuffed. 

It has been much employed to produce carbazotic 
acid, by digesting it with nitric acid, aided by heat—a 
valuable dye-stuff, which gives magnificent straw-colored 
yellows on silk and woollen fabrics : the acid is easily 
made pure, and at a moderate cost, and greens as well as 
yellows are produced, which do not fade. Mr. Calvert has 
introduced this acid into use. Mr. Bell, of Manchester, 
surgeon, has used carbazotic acid medicinally as a febri¬ 
fuge, Mr. Calvert having called his attention to its intense 
bitter taste, and, in the hands of the former, it has proved 
a valuable remedy for intermittent fever. Mr. Calvert has 
also applied it as an agent for preserving tanning matters 
from undergoing any decomposition by exposure to air, 
the effect of which is to convert the tannin present into 
sugar and gallic acid, which results in the destruction of 
the value of the tanning material, since gallic acid has no 
tanning properties, and tends even to remove the mordants 
from the fabric. By adding a small quantity of carbolic 
acid to the extracts of tanning matter, they may be kept 


ANILINE—COUP OIL. 


65 


and employed by the dyer as a substitute for the crude 
tanning material. 

That portion of the fluid distilled over at temperatures 
exceeding 400°, contains but little toluene, and is chiefly 
cumene. It also contains many of the bases enumerated, 
some carbolic acid, and a large quantity of paraffine ; or 
if the tar had been made at high heats, naphthaline ; to 
these may be added chrysene and pyrene. 

The heavy oil contains a singular organic product, first 
discovered by Fritsche and Runge, and called by them, 
“ Kyanol,” or “ Aniline/' which possesses the property of 
giving with bleaching powder, nitric acid, and other 
re-agents, a magnificent blue color. 

Aniline is a colorless fluid, strongly refractive, with a 
penetrating odor ; specific gravity=1.020, and a boiling 
point of 182° ; it dissolves in cold water, alcohol, and 
ether. Exposed to the air, it absorbs oxygen, becoming 
yellow and resinous ; the blue reaction produced becomes 
red if acids be added to the solution, and crystals of 
picrotoxic acid are produced ; this reaction distinguishes 
this base. 

The specific gravity and chemical constitution of the 
light and heavy oils, vary in relation to the temperature 
at which they were distilled ; and perhaps no two distilla¬ 
tions give exactly the same relative mixture of the various- 
hydro-carbons of which they are composed ; for it must 
be remembered, as already stated, that Coal Oils , as they 
are termed, are not pure chemical substances, but articles 
of manufacture ; each of the commercial oils containing 
2 or 3 of the liquid hydro-carbons, holding in solution 
small quantities of the solid matters, such as paraffine, 
naphthaline, chrysene, &c. 

The term Coup oil has been applied to the oil obtained. 

5 


66 


COUP OIL. 


by distilling tar at high temperatures, whereby little, if 
any, paraffine is produced, the naphthaline being then 
formed ; the distillation being conducted at 700° F., and 
the condenser having a temperature between' 150° and 
175°. The distillate is washed with a hot solution of 
caustic soda, and afterwards with oil of vitriol ; the clear 
liquid drawn off is again mixed with caustic soda solution 
of 25° Beaume. The clear oils drawn off are then dis¬ 
tilled in a hemispherical cast iron retort, with a condenser 
heated to 150° and kept thereat; distillation goes on 
until 450° is attained, when a fresh receiver is affixed, and 
the temperature pushed to 700°. This last oil is washed 
with soda and acid as before, and again distilled in an iron 
retort, with 12 lbs. hydrate potass, or soda, mixed with 1 
gallon of water for every 100 gallons of oil. The oil 
which condenses at 450° F. is collected until 650° F. is 
raised, -when the operation is stopped. This oil is Coup 
oil. 

The first oil obtained is what is usually known as dead 
oil, which contains naphtha, naphthaline, and cymene. 
Coup oil is not produced by the direct distillation of coal 
at low temperatures, but always from the secondary dis¬ 
tillation of tar at high temperatures, or under conditions 
that naphthaline may be formed in abundance ; its pres¬ 
ence in coup oil prevents the latter from being burned in 
lamps as paraffine oil is, as the quantity of smoke pro¬ 
duced is very great. Coup oil is occasionally formed in 
the tar of gas works, where the temperature exhibited has 
been high. Mr. Ross, of England, obtained a patent for 
making this Coup oil, in May, 1853. 

On account of the great variety of constitution in the 
liquids distilled from coal, it will be unnecessary here to 
specify their distinct physical properties, as these will be 


PARAFFINE. 


67 


alluded to in describing their commercial manufacture : a 
slight notice of the characters of the solid neutral com¬ 
pounds, when obtained in a pure and isolated form, will 
suffice to complete this account of the products of the 
distillation of coal. 

Paraffine is always produced by the distillation of 
organic substances at temperatures below a red heat; 
bituminous substances yield the largest amount of paraf¬ 
fine ; but it may be readily obtained by distilling wax 
with lime. The oil which comes over, solidifies, and the 
paraffine may be obtained by pressure between folds of 
bibulous paper. In the distillation of coals, it occurs as 
one of the last products, concentrating itself in the last 
portions of the heavy oils, which sometimes become so 
thick as to solidify below 80°. This constitutes what is 
commonly called u paraphinized oil,” in the language of 
patent processes. 

The paraffine is separated from the oil by cold, and by 
a centrifugal apparatus, then melted and run into tin 
moulds, and afterwards subjected to cold pressure first, 
and finally pressed when warm, and treated with 50 per 
cent, of oil of vitriol, which destroys the coloring matter, 
and lastly with a potash lye ; it is then again melted, 
and run into moulds. 

It has great stability—sulphuric acid, chlorine, and 
nitric acid, below 212°, exert no action upon it. Its 
property of not being acted on by acids or alkalies, renders 
it suitable for stoppers for vessels holding such liquids ; 
also for moulds for galvanoplastic purposes, where the 
metal is not intended to cover, as a substitute for fat now 
used. 

Paraffine melts at 116° (Regnault), 111° (Kane), and 
by several experiments made with care at 108°. It boils 


68 


PARAFFINE. 


at 700°, and then begins to undergo decomposition ; it 
dissolves sparingly in alcohol (4 per cent.), hut is very 
soluble in camphene, and in ether, and may he purified 
by treatment with these last two liquids. It burns in the 
air with a clear white flame, but requires a draught or 
large supply of air to prevent sooting ; as a candle mate¬ 
rial, it requires a glass shade to produce complete combus¬ 
tion. It is a ready solvent of some resins, gutta percha, 
and caoutchouc, with which it unites in all proportions, 
and destroys its elastic property. As it contains no oxy¬ 
gen, it might he used for the same uses as benzule for pre¬ 
venting oxidizable metals from contact with the air. 
From not uniting with acids and alkalies it received its 
name (from parurn affinis), and this property has been 
applied to make paraffine paper, for holding caustic alka¬ 
line samples. It might also form a tubing substance to 
transmit caustic gases or vapors. It is too costly, as yet, 
to supersede white wax, in the manufacture of candles. 

Its formula is C 20 H 2 i in most examinations, but Dr. 
Anderson states that the composition and properties of 
paraffine vary with the source from which it is derived, 
and so of its melting point also. 

Filipuzzi examined a sample of paraffine made by 
Young, in Glasgow, from bituminous slate, which was 
white, crystalline, without odor or taste, having a specific 
gravity of .861, at 590° F., and a melting point of 110° at 
131° F. ; it partially dissolves in alcohol, and separated 
by cooling. The mass, when separated from the alcohol, 
and placed under the microscope, showed three different 
forms, needle crystals, angular grains, and glistening 
mother-of-pearl scales ; by further treatment, he was 
enabled to separate nine distinct portions, each of which 
had a different melting point; 


PARAFFINE. 


69 


Variety— 

1234 5 6 789 

Temperature- 

113* 118* 120* 121* 123* 5’ 133' 5' 136' 137' 139' 

The ultimate analysis of these bodies showed that 
they were isomeric or polymeric hydro-carbons, viz.: 


Melting point— 


113' 

121° 

135' 5’ 

187' 

189' 

Constitution—j 

C 

85.47 

85.93 

85.72 

85.77 

85.69 

H 

14.29 

14.23 

14.31 

14.21 

14.29 


By distillation, these yielded a thin, fatty acid, which, 
treated with potash, sulphuric acid and alcohol, yielded 
butyric ether. From the experiments made by him, 
Filipuzzi thinks that paraffine is a derivative of fatty 
bodies, and is formed from them by some process of re¬ 
duction. 

Dr. Anderson, of Glasgow, who has examined paraf¬ 
fine, states that the products of its distillation are hydro¬ 
carbons, radicals of alcohol, density, .750, and boiling at 
143° C. Bolley has found that most of the commercial 
paraffine contains stearic acid : also, that when paraffine 
is melted it is then readily acted on by chlorine, giving 
off bubbles of hydrochloric acid gas, and retaining some 
acid tenaciously. In the compound thus formed some of 
the hydrogen is replaced by chlorine. It is tolerably sol¬ 
uble in benzine, and the solution may be readily spread 
upon paper, wood, &c. He suggests the name of chlorof- 
fine for this substance. 

The lowest melting point of paraffine is given by Lau¬ 
rent as 91°.4 ; the highest, that by Bolley, as 149°.9 F. 

Dr. A. found that the melting point of paraffine 
varies according to the source from which it is obtained. 
That from Boghead coal melting or crystallizing at 114°, 
while that from Rangoon naphtha melts at 140°, and that 
of Turf at 116°. That produced from bituminous coal, by 
Atwood’s process, melts at 110° ; and Dr. Anderson 


70 


NAPHTHALIN—CHRYSENE. 


thinks the formula C20 H 2 i does not represent the com¬ 
position of these various paraffines ; that the formula 
C20 H20+H2, or more exactly, C 4 o H 42 ; perhaps C 42 Hm 
and Cm H 4 6 might embrace some of the varieties. 

Naphthalin is a colorless, inflammable solid, crystal¬ 
lizing in plates ; it comes over in the receiver mixed with 
leucol, pyrrhol, kyano], carbolic, rosalic, and brunolic 
acids, these forming the oily liquid separated by distilla¬ 
tion with water from the pitchy residuum of coal tar. 
The formula is C 2 o H 8 , being the solid which contains 
the highest quantity of carbon ; insoluble in cold, and 
slightly soluble in boiling water : specific gravity=1.048 ; 
of vapor=4.528 ; it melts at 175°, and boils at 428°, and 
condenses unaltered in pearly laminae ; it is peculiarly the 
product of high temperatures, and is yielded by alcohol 
and organic matters, at a state of high red heat. The 
crystals of naphthalin may be separated from the impuri¬ 
ties by a cold of 14°, and pressure between folds of bibu¬ 
lous paper.— {Graham.) 

It forms with sulphuric acid, two acids, and with 
chlorine, yields a series of compounds of great theoretical 
interest, but of no practical value. 

Anthracene is a substance associated with the fore¬ 
going in gas tar, and is isomeric with it, the formula 
being C 3 o H 12 ; it has higher boiling and fusing points, 
may be distilled unaltered ; insoluble in water—copiously 
in spirit of turpentine. 

Para-Naphthalin is polymeric with the foregoing ; it 
melts at 356°, and boils at 392°, subliming in foliated 
crystals. It is readily acted on by chlorine and nitric 
acid ; its formula is C 30 Hi 2 . 

Chrysene and Pyrene are two hydro-carbons, first de¬ 
scribed by Laurent, and are produced in the distillation of 


PYRENE—RESIDUAL MATTERS. 


71 


resins, as well as in coal. They are among the last prod¬ 
ucts of distillation, when the mass becomes yellowish-red, 
thick and pasty, clogging the neck of the retort, and con¬ 
taining crystalline plates ; on distillation, the pyrene 
passes over, and the chrysene collects in the neck; they 
are then easily separable by ether, in which the pyrene 
dissolves more readily. 

To obtain the chrysene, the coloring matter in the 
neck of the retort is treated with ether, which removes the 
pyrene, or some oily matters, leaving the chrysene in a 
pulverulent state : it is crystalline, inodorous, insipid, of 
a fine yellow color, insoluble in water and alcohol. Ether 
dissolves it sparingly ; spirit of turpentine, boiling, dis¬ 
solves a greater amount than ether, which is deposited 
yellow and floreulent on cooling ; it melts at 230° to 235° 
Cent., and on cooling, solidifies into a yellow mass, com¬ 
posed of needle crystals, or thin plates ; it distils a little 
above its boiling point. It is composed of—carbon, 94.7 ; 
hydrogen, 5.3=100, and its formula is Ci 2 H 4 . 

Pyrene, Cio H 2 , a white crystalline solid, is associated 
with the foregoing, than which it is more fusible. 

When tar is distilled, a semi-solid mass is left in 
the still. When the distillate is rectified, a solid pitch 
or bitumen remains ; these are utilized for various pur¬ 
poses. 

The carbonaceous mass left at the first distillation, is 
mixed with the ammoniacal water, and forms a good 
manure. The tarry residuum of the second distillation is 
used as asphalt is, for coatings. 

There appear to be varieties of coal, which, whether 
produced by differences in the vegetable species originally 
composing them, or by different conditions of decomposi¬ 
tion, produce different reactions when subjected to dry 


72 


SLOW DECOMPOSITION OF COAL. 


distillation. It is notorious to practical men, tliat certain 
coals yield paraffine at lower temperatures than others, 
and that some coals produce naphthalin at temperatures 
which only aid in forming paraffine in the rest. 

When the order of decomposition of an organic sub¬ 
stance is spoken of, it must be understood only as referring 
to the exact condition under which it takes place ; for 
under different conditions, a different order of decomposi¬ 
tion takes place, and a new set of products are the result: 
for example, it is usual to speak of coal, that when sub¬ 
jected to a low degree of heat, it decomposes so as to 
form inelastic or condensible vapors, while, if the heat be 
augmented, elastic or gaseous products will form ; but 
this is only true of the conditions under which the coal 
has been treated in that experiment; for, on the large 
scale, in the operations of nature, we do not find such 
results to ensue. 

The fire-damp which escapes into the galleries of coal 
mines, leaks out from the fissures and seams in the sur¬ 
rounding coal, and arises from the decomposition of the 
coal at temperatures but little above that of the atmos¬ 
phere, but under augmented pressure ; the temperature, 
however, is not that at which volatile liquids or vapors 
would be produced. The experiments of M. de Marsilly * 
show that coals heated from 122° F. to 626° F., lost con¬ 
siderable quantities of gas, which began to escape at 212° 
F., and went on increasing to the limit of temperature 
attained. The quantity of gas varied from 1 to 2 litres 
per kilogramme of coal, and toward the close of the 
operation, from 1 to 2 per cent, of benzine came over. 
The gas produced was fire-damp, or mono-carburetted 
hydrogen. This disengagement takes place from all coal 


Comptes Rendus, May 10, 1858. 


CHANGE PRODUCED BY PRESSURE. 


73 


freshly mined, and is greatest in amount when the coal is 
finely powdered. It is not obstructed in escape by in¬ 
creased pressure, and after being given off for a time, 
ceases to be continually produced. The formation and 
removal of this hydro-carbon gas appears to be the first 
step in the decomposition of coal, as it appears to go on 
equally well on atmospheric exposure, or by heating in a 
retort to 500° F. ; it is more rapidly extricated in the 
latter case, but not more abundant in quantity, abso¬ 
lute] y. 

The principle which renders coals fat. or renders them 
more coherent, and gives that property to the coke, is 
perhaps a liquid hydro-carbon very volatile. By exposure 
for some time to the air, this principle also escapes from 
coal at common temperatures ; or if the coal be submitted 
to a temperature at 572° F., it also loses this principle, 
and the coals are no longer fat; the coke is powdery and 
worthless. 

That coals may be made to give off elastic gases at 
low temperatures, is shown by the experiments of Dr. A. 
A. Hayes,'* who, by well-contrived operations, prevented 
the formation of the vapors or liquids which usually are 
produced ; from these the experimenter deduced a theory 
of the formation of anthracite coal. Whatever force they 
lend to such a view, the results are interesting, as showing 
how conditions vary results. In fact, when it is recollect¬ 
ed that one of the invariable conditions under which coal 
is produced, is that of great pressure, it is obvious that 
the removal of this pressure, as by opening and quarrying 
a coal seam, and exposing the broken mineral to the air, 
must be followed by actions of decomposition within the 
mass, which are furthered and modified but never origi- 

* Silliman’s Amer. Jour, of Science, March, 1859. 


74 


FOSSIL HYDRO-CARBONS. 


nated by the retort, and the furnace of the chemist and 
manufacturer. 

Time plays a less important part than pressure in the 
production of coal, and therefore less also in its decompo¬ 
sition. M. Barouler * planned an apparatus, in which 
vegetable matters, surrounded by w 7 et clay, and capable 
of being strongly compressed, could be subjected to a 
long-sustained temperature ranging from 392° F. to 572° 
F. The materials were thus placed in conditions similar 
to that which produces coal, and the apparatus, while 
partially air and vapor tight, allowed the watery vapor to 
react on the solid matter under a high pressure. 

By placing in the vessel various kinds of wood, Barou¬ 
ler obtained products which, in properties and appearance, 
resembled ordinary coal, having in places a dull, and in 
places a brilliant appearance. M. Barouler found these 
differences to be owing either to the circumstances of the 
experiment or to the nature of the wood selected for trial, 
so that in his view, this appeared to explain the formation 
of striated coals, or those formed of a succession of alter¬ 
nately brilliant and dull coals. He also placed some 
stems and leaves of plants between the beds of clay, and 
obtained, at the close of the experiment, only carbonaceous 
matter, and impressions similar to those found in coal 
schists. 

There is no doubt, however, that the same change 
which is effected in coals by the dry distillation of the 
manufacture, occurs also in nature. The occurrence of 
Ozokerite, Hartite, Middletonite, Fichtelite, and other 
similar hydro-carbons, show that from coals are formed, 
by natural processes, bodies isomeric with the paraffine 
(which itself has many modifications) of the manufacturer. 


Comptes Rendus, Feb. 15, 1858. 


OCCURRENCE OF RESINS. 


75 


Many of these substances are found in the seams and 
fissures of the coal stratum, hut the change is still better 
shown in the liquid bitumens or petroleums, of which that 
froiji Burmah or Rangoon naphtha, as it has been termed, 
is one of the best examples. The raw material is a semi¬ 
fluid naphtha, raised from wells sunk close by the river 
Iriwaddy, in the Burman empire. The geological forma¬ 
tions in the neighborhood are sandstone and blue clay. 
In its raw state, the natives use it as a lamp fuel. The 
burning fluids which are obtained from it by processes 
patented by W. de la Rue, are merely separated from the 
native compound; they are not formed by heat applied, 
as is the case in the heating of coal, but have been formed 
by natural processes, and when existing together in vari¬ 
able proportions, constituting the petroleum. "When 
steam at 212° is applied to distil this fluid, several vola¬ 
tile hydro-carbons come over, which require to be separat¬ 
ed by subsequent distillations. It is remarkable of these 
liquids, that though they come over together below 212°, 
yet, when separated from each other, the boiling points 
of some of them exceeds 400° F. 

It may be remarked, that the presence of hydro¬ 
carbon solid resins in organic substances occurs in those 
which have been subjected to telluric influences for the 
shortest period, geologically speaking. Fichtelite and 
Scheererite occur in the latter tertiary, or post pliocene 
turf of Bavaria. Scheererite, Kenlite, Tekoretin, and 
Phylloretin, have been found in the tertiary coal of 
Switzerland ; * it is rare to find the congeneric solids in 
the coal beds of older date, so that we must either suppose 
that the conditions of decomposition of the older formed 
coals were not such as could produce those resins—or 

* T. E. Clark, Inaug. Diss., Heidelberg, 1857. 


76 


FORMATION OF RESINS. 


what may be more likely, that they were also formed in 
these, and have been removed by subsequent actions. 
Their formation in the pine wood of turf-bogs shows that 
a very low temperature is necessary to produce them, and 
that moisture and pressure are, perhaps, more actively 
exciting causes. 


CHAPTER V. 


ON THE PRODUCTS DERIVED FROM THE DISTILLATION OF 
SCHISTS AND NATURAL BITUMENS. 

When bituminous schists are submitted to destructive 
distillation, besides the production of naphtha occasionally, 
and inflammable gas, there is obtained an empyreumatic 
oil, of a thick consistence. When this tarry oil is sub¬ 
mitted to fractional distillation at increasing temperatures, 
a series of volatile oils are separated, of which the point 
of ebullition varies between 144° and 540° F. 

Laurent gives the composition of those given off at 
low temperatures, as— 



144°—171° 

216°—21S # 

304° 

Average. 

Carbon, 

86.0 85.7 

86.2 

85.60 

85.7 

Hydrogen, 

14.3 14.1 

13.6 

14.50 

14.3 


Gerhardt remarks, that these oils approach in constitu¬ 
tion to tri-carburetted hydrogen. 

The oil distilled between 144° and 156°, when recti¬ 
fied with sulphuric acid and caustic potass, is colorless, 
and has a density of .714,. and resembles naphtha in com- 


78 


OIL OF SCHISTS. 


position and properties, by exposure to sunlight, and to 
chlorine vapors it forms hydrochloric acid, and thickens. 

The oils which are distilled between 360° and 536° F., 
furnish, by treatment with sulphuric acid and caustic 
potass, a light, yellow-brown, fatty oil, called Ampeline. 
Soluble in alcohol and ether, and in all proportions with 
water, it resists congelation 30° below zero. Nitric acid 
ultimately converts it into oxalic acid.—( Gerhardt .) 

M. St. Evre, by redistilling the commercial oil dis¬ 
tilled from schists, by the fractional method, and purify¬ 
ing them by repeated distillations over potassa and anhy¬ 
drous phosphoric acid, obtained the following hydro¬ 
carbons :— 


C 3 6 H 34 boiling between 520° and 536° 

C 28 H 26 “ “ 485° and 500° 

C 24 H 2fl “ “ 414° and 428° 

C 18 II 16 “ “ 268° and 275° 


The calcareous schists so abundantly distributed over 
many parts of Europe, are well characterized by the diffu¬ 
sion of bitumen through the mass of the limestone rock. 

At Igernay, near Autun ; at Gemenval, in Alsace ; 
at Menat, in Auvergne ; and in England, in Derbyshire, 
beds of some extent and thickness have been met with. 
They have not, however, until lately, been utilized, ex¬ 
cepting the schists of Menat, which have been burned to 
convert into charcoal for decolorizing and disinfecting pur¬ 
poses. The crude distillation of these latter schists fur¬ 
nished— 

Oil, 20' 


Combustible gases, 

Charcoal and ash, 
Water, 


14 

39 

19 

8 


53 per cent, of 
combustible matters. 


100 



ANALYSIS OF BITUMEN. 


79 


The oil is brown ; very fluid, and of a disagreeable 
odor : in a lamp with a circular wick it burns well, and 
without smoke, when the diameter and height of the chim¬ 
ney is greater than usual; the flame is brilliant white. 

On distilling this oil, and changing the receiver when 
| have gone over, an oil comes over, having little color, 
and depositing crystalline plates, whitish and glittering, 
when cooled to 32°, or 22°. To separate the crystals, the 
liquid must be cooled down to 10° C., the whole thrown 
on a fine linen rag, and subsequent pressure of the crystal¬ 
line mass between folds of filtering paper. The crystals 
are further purified by boiling alcohol, whence they are 
precipitated as it cools. When pure, it fuses at 33° C., 
very soluble in ether, inattackable by nitric acid, hydro¬ 
chloric and sulphuric acids, or by chlorine and potassa. 
Its composition is expressed by the following percentage : 

Carbon = 85.964 
Hydrogen = 14.036 

—it is therefore paraffine. 

The bitumen of Seysell, which is a calcareous rock, 
yielded, on distillation, according to Dumas :— 

Volatile oil, .... 8.6 

Charcoal, .... 2.0 

Quartz sand, .... 69.0 

Calcareous grains, . . 20.4 

100.0 

The bitumen of Bechelbronn is viscid, of a deep brown 
color, and is used as a lubricating or greasing oil. 

The bitumen of Monastier (Haut Loire), does not 
soften by boiling water, and burns without softening or 
agglutinating ; on distillation, it affords :— 


80 


BITUMINOUS SCHISTS. 


Volatile oil, . 

7.00 

Charcoal, . 

3.50 

Water, 

4.30 

Gas and vapors, 

4.00 

Quartz and Mica, 

. 60.00 

Ferruginous clay, 

21.00 

100 . 


The bituminous schists do not differ in the products 
of distillation from pure bitumens : the ashy coke, left 
as residue, is always more abundant and earthy than in 
natural bitumens. They have been a long time employed 
in France, to produce charcoal for decolorizing purposes, 
due to the fine condition in which the charcoal is left after 
ignition. The schists of Menat have been long applied 
to this purpose by M. Bergenhioux. M. Selligue first 
introduced the manufacture of volatile oil from bitumin¬ 
ous schists into France ; and operated also with the 
splint coal of Autun. He obtained these products from 
the schists— 

1. Light or ethereal oil. 

2. Fixed oil. 

3. Paraffinised oil, used for lubricating. 

4. True paraffine. 

5. Coloring material, and ammonia. 

6. A dry residue, which may be used for discolor¬ 
ing syrups, or disinfecting purposes. 

The schists of Youvaut, in the Yendee, afforded, on 
analysis :— 


Ashes,. 

61.6 

Charcoal, .... 

7.7 

Matters volatile at a red heat. 

3.2 

Oil,.,* 

14.5 

Water, .... 

3.2 

Gas,. 

9.8 



PRODUCTS FROM SCHISTS. 


81 


In the distillation, water is first given off, then oils, 
almost colorless, and very light at commencement, deepen¬ 
ing in color, and becoming heavy toward the close ; den¬ 
sity of oil, .870 : yields paraffine on cooling. 

By fractional distillation of this oil, it yields products 
boiling at different temperatures. Dumas states that a 
number of indefinite compounds are thus obtained, and 
in which no one compound appears to exceed much the 
proportion in which the others exist. The only practical 
distinction which can be made in these products, is the 
division of them into two classes, viz. :— 

1st. Those boiling between 105° and 140°—volatile 

oils. 

2d. Those whose boiling point exceeds 428°—fixed 

oils. 

In the distillation of the schists, M. Selligue’s chief 
object was to obtain as much fluid oil as possible, which 
he applied, before 1845, to lighting purposes, as a substi¬ 
tute for the burning fluids then in use, and also as a 
substitute for oil, in the production of illuminating gas. 

M. Selligue conducts the distillation in cylindrical 
cast iron retorts, placed vertically ; each furnace heats 
six such cylinders, each of which has the capacity of a 
cubic metre, and is so constructed, that the schists may 
be introduced by wagons at the upper part of the cylinder, 
and the residue drawn off by an iron car run under the 
lower end. The retorts are so arranged as to economize 
fuel; the products of distillation are removed from the 
upper end of the retorts, and are condensed in cooled 
pipes. When the distillation is one fourth over, the com¬ 
bustible gases produced are turned under the fire-grate, 
and produce an economy of fuel. The gas is consider¬ 
able, each cylinder producing 7.500 gallons of gas. Each 
6 


82 


BITUMINOUS SHALE. 


cubic metre of schist weighs from 1,260 to 1,400 lbs., 
and yields 90 lbs. of bituminous oil. 

From 1 ton of schist, Selligue obtained, in his manu¬ 
factory, the following products :— 

1st. 820 lbs. of light oil, specific gravity 0.760 to .810. 

2d. 582 lbs. of mineral oil, adapted to lighting purposes. 

3d. 318 lbs. of paraffinized oil, having 14 per cent, paraffine. 

4th. 400 lbs. of tar, or residual pitch. 

The liquid first obtained is generally naphtha, or ben- 
zule, but not constantly nor necessarily so. In this the 
difference in distillation of schists which are bituminous 
from true coal or coal shale : the latter always yielding 
benzule by distillation ; the latter, generally. 

Naphtha, if present, will come over at temperatures 
below 212° ; on heating bitumens to this point, rarely any 
fluid comes over, as it is only a few bitumens which con¬ 
tain it ready formed. On distillation, they yield petroline 
when the temperature rises to 450° ; and at a tempera¬ 
ture of 482°, the whole petroline distils over. 

Prof. A. W. Hoffman examined the bituminous shale 
of Kimmeridge, Dorsetshire, England, to determine the 
yield of coke and oily matters, with the following result : 

Specimen 1 :— 

Coke, 71.5 

Oily Matters, 14.6 

Gas, water, and ammonia, 13.9 


2.7 light oil (naphtha). 

9.5 heavy oil, containing 1.3 per cent. 

paraffine. 

2.4 pitch. 



BITUMINOUS SHALE. 


83 


Specimen 2 :— 


Coke, 

43.00 

Oily Matters, 

39.0oj 

Gas, water, ammonia, &c., 

18.00 


100. 


2.3 light oil (naphtha). 

37.7 heavy oil, 1.9 per cent, paraffine. 


H. Vohl examined the posidonian slate of Wurtem- 
berg, in relation to its capability of yielding oils. 

3,000 lbs. of this slate gave, on dry distillation :— 


Tar, 

289.032 

in 100 parts. 

9.63 

Ammoniacal liquor, 

249.948 

8.33 

Residues, 

2090.505 

69.68 

Gas, 

370.515 

12.36 


3000.000 

100.00 


100 parts of tar (sp. gr.=0.975), yield :— 


Photogen, 

24.180 

Lubricating oil, . 

. 41.936 

Paraffine, . 

0.124 

Carbon residue, . 

. 13.689 

Creosote, . 

19.036 

Gas, and Loss, 

. 1.035 

100.000 


Theod. Engelbach gives the following percentage, re¬ 
sults of the distillation of a bituminous sand from Heide, 
in Holland:— 

Carbonaceous residue, . . 84.5 

Distillate (oils), ... 14. 

Gas, and Loss, . . .1.5 

100 . 

The bituminous schists of the United States have 






84 


BITUMINOUS SHALE. 


not been examined practically with regard to their pro¬ 
ductiveness in photogenic liquids. The coal schists of 
the province of New Brunswick have been treated by the 
process patented by A. G-esner, in 1854, by which, not 
more than from 40 to 50 gallons of crude oil per ton were 
obtained. Shortly after the operation was commenced on 
the large scale, the Albert coal, or bitumen, was substi¬ 
tuted, which, being more easily distilled, led to the aband¬ 
onment of the schists. The large amount of bituminous 
coal in the United States will for a long time prevent any 
attempt being made to distil bituminous schists. 


CHAPTER VI. 


OF THE PRODUCTS OF DISTILLATION OF PEAT AND WOOD. 

When peat or turf is distilled, the chief products are 
•—1st. Pyroligneous acid ; 2d. A brown, empyreumatic, 
crystallizable oil ; and 3d. Ammonia, and carburetted 
hydrogen gases. These products are all useful in the 
arts, and are separated in those countries where peat 
abounds. A manufactory was erected a few years since, 
at Athy, in Ireland, for the distillation of peat; it was 
worked on the plan in Mr. Rees Reece's patent, sealed in 
England in 1849. The principle of this mode of distilla¬ 
tion is, to drive a current of heated air, and products of 
combustion, from below, upwards, through the materials 
in the heated furnace. The heat developed by the prod¬ 
ucts of combustion passing upward, carries off the oils 
generated. The waste, inflammable products are used for 


fuel. 


The average results of the distillation gave :— 
Watery matters, 30.G14 ' 


Tar, 

Gases, 

Ashes, 


2.392 

62.392 

4.197 


In 100 parts. 



86 


DISTILLATION OF PEAT. 


The watery products and the tar yielding :— 


Ammonia, . 

. 0.287 

Acetic acid, 

0.207 

Naphtha, . 

. 0.140 

Volatile and fixed oils, 

1.059 

Paraffine, . 

. 0.125 


The furnace in which the distillation is carried on, 
somewhat resembles the high-blast iron furnaces; con¬ 
densers, with scrubbers and main, are attached. 

At Denis & Hoeschs, at Ludwigshafen, lignite and 
turf are the crude materials. The hulk of the latter is 
reduced by pressure, and subjected to distillation, furnish¬ 
ing a product similar to coal-tar. The turf-tar may be 
used for purposes similar to those in which birch-tree-tai 
is used. Turf-coke, as made there, forms a good fuel, and 
the ash serves for manure. 

Turf from Hanover, air-dried, gave, in 100 parts :— 


Tar, . 

. 9.06 

Ammoniacal liquor, . 

40.00 

Coke, . 

. 35.32 

Gas, and Loss, . 

15.62 

100 parts of tar yielded, on average :— 

Light oil (photogen), 

19.457—sp. gr.=0.830 

Heavy oil (lubricating oil), 

19.547—sp. gr.=0.870 

Asphalt, 

17.194 

Paraffine, 

3.316 

Creosote, and Loss, 

40.486 

Consequently, 100 parts of the 

air-dried turf yields 

Light oil, . 

. 1.7633 

Heavy oil, 

1.7715 

Asphalt, 

. 1.5582 

Paraffine, 

0.3005 


TURF OILS. 


87 


Coke, . 

Water, . 

Gas, . 

Creosote, and Loss, 


35.3120 

40.0000 

15.6250 

3.6695 


The turf Pliotogen, or light oil, is a transparent, light 
colored, thin liquid, with but a faint odor ; it is wholly 
volatile, and does not become brown by exposure to air ; 
specific gravity=0.835. It is a powerful solvent of fat, 
resin, and caoutchouc, and after evaporation, leaves them 
behind unaltered ; it contains no oxygen, and has the 
formula of CH. Burned in camphene lamps, it gives no 
odor, and when pure, does not char the wick, so that the 
latter does not require trimming oftener than once in 
three days. 

The nitric acid compounds of turf-oil have an odor of 
Musk, and Bitter Almond oil, and are used in perfumery 
and cosmetics. Similar compounds are formed with oil 
from paper coal and lignite, as well as other hydro-car¬ 
bons ; they all probably contain nitro-benzule. 

The oil used alone, or mixed with alcohol, forms an 
excellent liquid for removing stains and grease-spots. 

Heavy Oil, or Grease Oil. This oil is of a clear 
brown, beer color, has an insignificant odor, and is not so 
fluid as the turf photogen. Although every good coal-oil 
lamp burns this oil with a dazzling white light, yet the 
wick must be cleaned after the lamp has burned from 
6 to 8 hours. It has a greater photometric value than 
the photogen, due to the larger amount of carbon which 
it contains. 

The statement that the light mineral oils are the 
better materials for lamps, or have a higher photogenic 
value, is not true. 

Mixed with suitable materials, it forms a very good 


88 


PRODUCE FROM TURF. 


lubricating oil, which neither becomes resinous, nor hardens 
by the cold of winter, and is employed for greasing the 
spindles in cotton factories, in lieu of train or rape oil. 

Its specific gravity does not exceed .870, and, like 
photogen, contains no oxygen. 

Asphalt. The pitch obtained after the distillation 
has a very black color, and is used for varnishes to coat 
iron-work, and as an ingredient for making lamp-black. 

The Paraffine produced is very pure, and so large in 
amount, that it exceeds that produced from any coal, and 
as a paraffine-producing material, turf has no rival. 

The Creosote contained in the heavy oil is of a dark 
brown color, and contains 80 to 85 per cent, of pure 
creosote ; the adulterating ingredients are carbolic acid, 
butyric and propionic acid, and picamar. 

When peat is distilled at an incipient red heat, and 
gradually augmenting the temperature as the operation 
proceeds, the tar will contain, besides the volatile and 
fixed oil, a considerable quantity of paraffine ; if the heat 
passes beyond a certain range, the character of the tar 
will change, and it will afterward yield very little paraf¬ 
fine. 

The works established by the Irish Peat Co., in the 
county of Kildare, before alluded to, are capable of work¬ 
ing up 100 tons of peat per diem. Every ton of peat 
yields 3 lbs. of paraffine, 2 gallons of volatile oil, adapted 
for burning, and 1 gallon of fixed oil for lubricating pur¬ 
poses. These are all derived from the tar. The quantity 
of tar produced by careful distillation varies from 5 to 6 
gallons per ton, yielding the above products. 

One ton of peat yields 65 gallons of the watery liquor, 
or nearly in the proportion of 30 per cent. A numerous 
list of substances have been made out as the products ; for 


WOOD-TAR. 


89 


all practical purposes, ammonia, acetic acid, and pyroxilic 
spirit, need only be mentioned. 

The fluid from 1 ton of peat affords 5J- lbs. of am¬ 
monia, producing, when combined with sulphuric acid, 
24 lbs. of sulphate of ammonia. The quantity of acetic 
acid from 1 ton of peat, is 5 lbs. The naphtha mingled 
with the water amounts to 8 lbs. per ton of peat. The 
charcoal or coke left in the retort is equal to 25 per cent, 
of the weight of the peat. 

When wood is submitted to distillation in close ves¬ 
sels, the substances which are produced are very numer¬ 
ous, and differ according to the nature of the wood, and 
the resinous matters which may be formed by the tree, 
and contained in its substance. The temperature at 
which it is distilled, also determines the constitution of 
many of the products ; which, as in the case of the dis¬ 
tillation of other organic matters, are solid, liquid, and 
gaseous. The gaseous products have been already noticed ; 
the liquid products are in part soluble, and partly insolu¬ 
ble in water ; the latter forms the tar. The liquid mat¬ 
ters soluble in water are, pyroligneous (acetic) acid, wood 
spirit (hydrate of methyle), acetone, and creosote. Those 
not soluble are the hydro-carbons, toluene, xylite, cumene, 
and some oxygenated oils. The important solid substance 
is paraffine. 

These distillates are always accompanied with colored, 
pasty substances, which form the chief bulk of the tar, 
and which yields ammonia during the distillation, and 
which, at the close of distillation, becomes a resinous-like 
substance, which combines readily with alkalies. 

When wood-tar is redistilled, there passes over with 
the watery matters at the commencement, a light-yellow 
oil, which swims on the surface of the water ; and subse- 


90 


WOOD-TAR OILS 


quently, there comes over a thick colored oil, which is 
heavier than water. 

Light Oil. This is a complex mixture, which, when 
rectified, begins to boil at 158°, but which soon rises by 
degrees to 482°. The density of these different portions 
varies between .841 and .877. 

To this light oil, Reichenbach gave the name of Eu¬ 
pion , under the impression that it was a distinct and 
unique substance ; but Yoelckel has shown that the mere 
volatile portions, those rising below 212°, are chiefly 
acetate of methyle, with acetone, and a little benzine, 
xylite, and mesite. 

Reichenbach states that pure eupion may be obtained 
by distilling oil of Colza, having a boiling point of 118°, 
which rises as high as 336°, in some samples of eupion, 
dependent on the mode of extraction and the temperature. 
A substance with such qualities must, as G-erhardt asserts, 
be a complex mixture of liquids ; and it may be asserted 
that eupion, as a distinct chemical compound, does not 
exist. 

The portions distilling over between 212° and 302°, 
are chiefly oxide of methyle, as well as the isomeric 
bodies, benzine, toluene, and xylite ; with these are mixed 
some oxygenated hydro-carbons, from which they may be 
separated, by washing with concentrated sulphuric acid, 
which breaks up the latter. 

The less volatile portions, boiling between 302° and 
392°, are composed of a mixture of hydro-carbons (among 
which is cumene) and oxygenated oils, separable as above 
described ; capnomore is found among the latter oils. 

Heavy Oils. This oil, gathered at the 2d period of 
distillation of wood tar, is a mixture of some of the fore¬ 
going substances, and some other oils heavier than water; 


WOOD-TAR OILS. 


91 


these are attacked by alkalies, and dissolve in snch solu¬ 
tions ; they are, creosote, capnomore, and pyroxanthogene; 
the latter, by the action of caustic potass, forms pyrox- 
anthin, discovered by Scanlan, and examined by Gregory ; 
it crystallizes in long yellow needles, and converted by 
sulphuric acid into a deep yellow-red color. 

Besides the foregoing, Keichenbach has described the 
following substances as derived from wood-tar :— 

Pittacal is a substance produced by the action of 
baryta upon the oil of tar ; it dissolves in acids, and is 
precipitated by alkalies ; it does not dissolve in water, 
alcohol, or ether; it combines readily with alumina, and 
by its means can be readily precipitated upon the tissues 
as a dye-stuff. 

Picamar is an oil of specific gravity 1.10, greasy to 
the touch, of a feeble odor, and biting and bitter to the 
taste ; it boils about 518°, and combines with alkalies as 
creosote does, forming, with them, crystalline compounds. 

Creosote has already been described under the products 
of distillation of coal. 

The other compounds do not deserve detailed notice 
in this work. 


CHAPTER VII. 


METHODS OP APPLYING HEAT. 

There is, perhaps, no question of so much moment 
to the manufacturer of photogenic oils, as that which 
presents itself to him when about to commence the manu¬ 
facture—What is the best form and arrangement of the 
retorts or vessels for distilling the coal or bituminous 
mineral P All other questions are secondary to this. 
The mode of purification of the oil, nay, even the selection 
of the variety of coal to be operated upon, are of less im¬ 
portance than the problem how to obtain, from a given 
weight of bituminous mineral, all of the volatile and heavy 
oils which it is susceptible of yielding under the most 
suitable application of heat. 

In the infancy of the dry distillation of coal, where 
the object was not the manufacture of oils, but either that 
of coke or of gas, it was deemed desirable to apply a 
strong heat up to redness, and obtain thereby as much 
tar as possible; from this tar the oils were afterwards 
separated by fractional distillation ; but as it has been 
already shown that the nature of tar differs not only with 
the nature of the substance distilled, but also with that* 


TEMPERATURE NECESSARY. 


93 


of the heat applied during distillation, the question natu¬ 
rally presents itself, what are the requisite characters 
which a tar should possess, to extract oil therefrom ? or, 
is it either possible or profitable to obtain oils by distilla¬ 
tion in the direct way, without devoting attention to the 
production of tar as an indispensable necessity ? It is now 
well known, that tars formed at a high temperature, such 
as that used in the manufacture of gas, yield a considerable 
amount of naphtha, or benzule, and contain, also, much 
naphthalin—the proportion of naphthalin being in pro¬ 
portion to the augmented temperature, and the sudden¬ 
ness of its application ; but neither of these products are 
desirable in this manufacture. The substances which are 
evolved after the naphtha has ceased to be found, and 
before the naphthalin is produced, being those desirable 
to be obtained, the point to be gained is, the largest pro¬ 
duction of them, and the consequent diminished production 
of the others. 

As naphthalin is produced at high temperatures, at 
which paraffine does not form, and as the production of 
the valuable oils is accompanied with the slow production 
of the latter solid ; and as the production and distillation 
of paraffine goes on abundantly at a temperature when the 
lighter oils have ceased, we have, in this statement of the 
circumstances pointed out, the conditions of temperature 
which are necessary to be observed in distillation. The 
temperature must be above that point at which naphtha 
or benzule is produced ; it must be below that at which 
naphthalin is formed ; within this range, paraffine is pro¬ 
duced, and the desirable temperature, therefore, is that 
between the formation of naphtha and the abundant for¬ 
mation of paraffine. 

Paraffine is not produced in tars of gas works, where 


94 


SCALE OF TEMPERATURE. 


a high cherry-red heat has been used ; it is naphthalin 
which is the waxy solid formed. At low-red heats, it 
begins to he produced ; while paraffine is evolved at tem¬ 
peratures beginning at 350°, and running up to a very 
low-red heat not visible in the day-time ; this, then, is 
the range of temperature within which the manufacture 
must he conducted. Pouillet has given the following 
table of temperatures, which will serve as an index to the 
proper understanding of this subject :— 


Incipient redness, 

525° 

Dull redness, .... 

. 700° 

Cherry-red, commencing, . 

800° 

u brighter, 

. 900° 

“ full, 

. 1000° 

Dark yellow-red, . 

. 1100° 

Bright ignition, . 

. 1200° 

White heat, . 

. 1300° 

Strong white heat, 

. 1400° 

Dazzling white heat, 

. 1600° 


The range desirable for manufacturing gas lies between 
800° and 1000°. That for the manufacture of oils, ter¬ 
minates where that of gas manufacture begins ; and 
perhaps the most efficient temperature is that which does 
not exceed 700 c . 

To accomplish the forementioned object, various shapes 
of retorts have been adopted, where it was deemed desir¬ 
able to vary the form in present use for the manufacture 
of gas. In the majority of instances, manufacturers satis¬ 
fied themselves with the cast iron gas retorts, and accom¬ 
panying pipes and condensers, and, in some cases, did not 
even lessen the heat to any considerable extent; it was 
soon found, however, that the gas thus produced, was at 
the cost of the oils, and that, with such retorts, the fire 


FORM OF RETORT. 


95 


must be considerably moderated; and hence, that the 
direct flame should not be allowed to play on the walls 
of the retort: this was accomplished either by placing a 
sole or floor, perforated, between the fire and the retort, 
or by conducting the flame through flues running along¬ 
side the sides and top of the retort. 

The shaped retort, in such cases, was used, on ac¬ 
count of the facility of charging and cleansing ; and where 
horizontal retorts are used, the many advantages this pos¬ 
sesses over the circular, or even elliptical ones, may still 
give it the preference. 

The manufacturer should bear in mind that the object 
he has in view is not the rapid carbonization of the mass, 
but the slow and gradual one ; and hence, those forms 
of vessels which allow only of slow heating of the mass, 
are those to be preferred. 

In many cases, the coal or bitumen contains consider¬ 
able sulphur, or pyrites, which, in a short time, so cor¬ 
rodes the inside of iron retorts, as to render their renewal 
a serious item of expenditure. 

Mr. Clegg has shown that clay retorts have many 
advantages over iron ones; in practice, they have, in 
Scotland, wholly superseded iron retorts : and are worthy 
of trial in this country, in those localities near coal 
deposits, where fire-clay is attainable. 

Whatever be the material of which the retort is con¬ 
structed, two conditions are necessary for success: the 
first is, that the eduction pipe for carrying oif the vapors 
should be attached to the end least heated, and not, as in 
gas retorts, from the front; the second is, that such pipes 
should be of sufficient calibre to allow the free discharge 
of the vapors formed, and thus no great pressure be exerted 
within the retort, as such prevents the further formation 


96 


CLAY RETORTS. 


of vapors ; in practice, a pipe less than four inches 
diameter will not deliver vapors readily. 

With regard to clay retorts, it may he observed, that 
retorts made of Stourbridge clay, or common fire-clay, 
have been much employed in England and France for the 
manufacture of gas, and are viewed as being more eco¬ 
nomical than iron ; when made of several pieces, they leak 
at the outset of employment, hut after a couple of weeks’ 
work, they become perfectly gas-tight : they are equally 
well-adapted for the production of oils, subject to certain 
conditions of manufacture. The deposit of carbon is 
always greater in earthen gas retorts than in iron ones, 
as they are more apt to heat up unequally, and burn por¬ 
tions of the coal inside ; this should be carefully avoided 
in the oil distillation, as the loss of oil is thereby very 
great. As the material of these retorts is a non-conductor 
of heat, and apt to be warmed irregularly, the cylindrical¬ 
shaped retort will be found best adapted for distilling 
purposes ; the average lengths are, 8 feet long, 14 inches 
diameter, and 4 inches thick ; the mouth-pieces may be 
cast iron, fitted with bolt and flanch, and jointed with 
fire-clay and iron cement : from three to five such retorts 
may be placed over one fire, and the heat should be slowly 
and gradually increased, and after the operation is finished, 
they should be cooled equally and slowly: if made of 
several pieces, the joints may be 2J to 3 feet long. The 
cement is made of 20 lbs. of gypsum, made into a pulp 
with water, add 10 lbs. of iron turnings, saturated with a 
strong solution of sal ammoniac, mixed to a consistence fit 
for use. When properly made, they are not liable to frac¬ 
ture from weight of charge, and for economy and dura¬ 
bility, are preferable to iron, especially when the coal used 
is sulphury. 


BRICK OVENS. 


97 


Another mode of applying heat, so as to produce slow 
distillation, is by the use of Brick Ovens. These may be 
made wholly of fire-brick, or with the bottom and side of 
fire-tiles, and the crown of brick : some river-sand and 
pipe-clay, added to the fire-clay of the coal-bed, prevents 
the brick from cracking. 

Mr. Clegg gives the dimensions of an oven as 3 feet 2 
inches wide, 8 inches to the springing line of the arch, and 
thence to crown, 6 inches. The usual charge for such a 
retort or oven is 5 cwt., and the fuel required for manu¬ 
facturing gas is estimated at 50 per cent, the amount dis¬ 
tilled : as much less heat is required for producing oil, 
35 per cent, would be the probable calculation. 

These brick retorts are not found as economical as 
iron for the manufacture of gas, on account of the waste 
of fuel; but this would not operate as an objection in the 
oil manufacture ; and in many localities of the Ohio and 
Illinois, and Missouri coal-field, where fire-clay is abundant, 
and cast iron expensive, there is no doubt that the brick 
oven is the appropriate distilling vessel. 

Muspratt, in his valuable work on applied chemistry, 
under the article Fuel, figures several carbonizing ovens, 
made of fire-brick, resembling muffle furnaces, in which 
the materials are placed in sheet-iron cases, or trays, and 
laid on shelves, or other support, so that the heat may 
play around them. The muffle has its wall, about 
inches thick, heated by a fire, the flame from which cir¬ 
cumscribes the whole muffle. The products of combustion 
pass behind the muffles by a special channel, and return 
to the front by the flue which leads to the chimney ; the 
trays may be run in on trucks, to facilitate introduction 
and removal, by a door in the front, lined with fire-brick, 
and luted with fire-clay. 

7 


98 


CRANE FURNACE. 


The use of chimney and "blast-furnaces may he con¬ 
sidered an improvement upon the last-mentioned method 
of applying heat. 

The process of carbonizing mineral-fuel for the pro¬ 
duction of charcoal, involves the use of apparatus which 
are better adapted for obtaining the mineral oils abun¬ 
dantly, than that used in gas works. When the Irish 
Peat Company first erected works to obtain not only the 
charcoal, but also the volatile oils and paraffine therefrom, 
a furnace resembling somewhat a blast-furnace was used ; 
closed at the top by a valve-lid, and having an eduction 
pipe at the upper part of the chimney: these were not 
found economical, and the furnace patented by Mr. P. M. 
Crane was adopted. The improvement in this furnace 
consisted in the use of another furnace to that in which 
the combustion of the peat was effected. In this ad¬ 
ditional furnace, the peat is consumed by a blast of air in 
the ordinary way, and the torrified gases are conducted 
by a flue to the second one, 
which is likewise filled with peat, 
and the heat thus communicated 
chars the material. Both fur¬ 
naces may be closed down by 
weighted valve-lids at top, a, so 
as to prevent any loss of the prod¬ 
ucts of distillation. The furnace 
A B is lighted, and the blast of 
air thrown upon the ignited fuel 
through 3 tuyeres, c c c, at the 
bottom: the heated gases are 
forced over into the furnace C D, 
and, passing up through the peat 
chars it. All of the products, as well those from the com 



Crane’s Apparatus for distilling 
Coal and Turf, to obtain Oil. 


^ 2 . 





VERTICAL RETORTS. 


99 


bustion as from the charring furnace, are carried off by tbe 
exit pipes F F to tbe mains and condensers in tbe usual 
manner. When the peat is carbonized, tbe charcoal is 
drawn out at E into covered tanks or cast-iron boxes. 

Next to the form of the retort, the position of it is a 
matter of importance : as when the retorts are vertically set 
in the bench, with the eduction pipe at the upper end, as 
in the apparatus described in the American patents of 
C. Cherry and B. Schroeder ; these have the advantage 
of presenting less surface to the fire ; and while the retort 
is thus kept cooler, it is not so readily corroded, if made 
of iron ; but, on the other hand, the position of the educ¬ 
tion pipe at the upper part of the apparatus produces 
much loss by the vapors condensing in the upper part of 
the retort before reaching this pipe ; these falling back 
into the retort, strike its hottest portion, and become to a 
great extent decomposed into gas. The eduction pipes 
are rarely wide enough ; those adapted for the passage of 
gas, are much too narrow for oil. Yohl, from his experi¬ 
ence at Bonn, states, that where paper coal is distilled, 
the form of the distilling vessels is essential. Horizontal 
iron retorts, having wide escape pipes, are preferable to 
vertical ones, such as are used and recommended in France. 
The escape pipes should not be above the level of the 
slate to be distilled, as the oily vapors, having a high spe¬ 
cific gravity, rise only a few inches above the surface of 
the mass, until urged by higher heat, which would decom¬ 
pose the oils. 

Delahaye, in France, proposed to use 4 vertical retorts 
provided with several horizontal pipes from below, up¬ 
wards. This was a failure. Mehlam, on the Bhine, has 
a furnace with three retorts, fitted up by Portman & Co. 
The produce was small, and the consumption of fuel 


100 


RETORTS AND ESCAPE PIPES. 


enormous. These retorts are filled from above, and 
emptied below. The eduction pipes were soon closed by 
accumulation of dust in them from the cleaning of the 
retort. The tar obtained in this way was of a dark-brown 
color, containing 9 to 10 per cent, of coal dust. The 
yield of oil and paraffine was much less than from hori¬ 
zontal retorts. 

Weissman & Co., of Augustine furnace at Bauel, 
have built a bench of 10 horizontal retorts, two retorts 
over one fire, and the whole connected by the one main. 
The retorts are filled in front with air-dried slate, and after 
the period of distillation, (6 hours,) the residue is removed 
by iron scrapers. Two retorts were worked at a time, and in 
one hour's time, so that, in a bench of 10 retorts, in filling 
the last two were almost exhausted ; the watery vapor 
rising in distillation, carries the oily vapors into the main, 
and keeps it so warm as to prevent the tar from solidify¬ 
ing. Lime is not necessary for retaining the sulphur. 

Flattened ^ retorts prove best in operation on paper 
coal: 8 feet long, 30 inches wide, and 12 to 13 inches 
high, are the best proportions. The escape pipes should 
not be too narrow, because each pound of slate gives, 
along with oil and water, 4 to 4J cubic feet of gas, at the 
same time, and this must be allowed to escape rapidly ; 
with these retorts it should be six inches wide. When 
the pipe issues from the neck of the retort it answers best. 

In Herman's furnace, at Gerstingen, in Siegengebir- 
gen, the main is a little sloped, and connected with the 
escape pipes of the retort by means of coupling-pipes ; 
the produce is received into casks or iron reservoirs ; the 
gas is conducted through serpentine pipes, cooled by 
water ; and it is either used in the furnaces, or conducted 
into chimnies or blasts for removal. 


METALLIC BATHS. 


101 


The products form 2 strata—the upper, the oil, or tar, 
and the lower, pyrrhol, with ammonia cal solution, they 
are separated by means of a bung in the lower part of the 
vessel. 

An ingenious means of distilling at a certain tempera¬ 
ture, is that which makes use of the warmth of a mass 
of melted metal, which always possesses and preserves an 
uniform temperature. 

The process patented by David C. Knab, in England, 
and dated January 24, 1853, involved the use of baths of 
fusible metal, which produced the amount of heat required 
for distillation, at the lowest possible temperatures, by 
which both the quality of the oil is improved, and the 
quantity augmented. 

In order to obtain the different temperatures neces¬ 
sary, Knab describes several alloys, with fusing points 
varying from 470° to 797° F., as follows :— 


Composition of alloy for Bath. Melting point. 


1 . 

4 parts Tin, 

10 of 

Lead, . 

ej 

o 

o 

F. 

2. 

4 

ss 

13 

is 

486° 

Cl 

3. 

4 

ss 

18 

is 

. 505° 

sc 

4. 

4 

ss 

27 

S'. 

525° 

S'. 

5. 

4 

SC 

38 

ss 

. 542° 

u 

6. 

4 

is 

70 

ss 

558° 

ss 


7. Lead alone,.610° « 

8. 3 parts Tin, 2 parts Zinc, . . 612° to 6G2° “ 

9. Zinc alone,. 680° “ 

10. Antimony alone,. 797° u 

These alloys are kept at their melting point during 
the distillation. The first-mentioned alloy serves for dis¬ 
tilling wood, while No. 8 serves for the distillation of turf; 
asphalte may be distilled by the aid of No. 9 ; while No. 
10 is the most appropriate for pit-coal, which, however, 


102 


ROTARY RETORTS. 


yields, with a bath of No. 9, a considerable amount of 
volatile hydro-carbon. 

The apparatus used by Knab consisted of an air-tight 
metallic box, for holding the alloy, placed above the fur¬ 
nace, through the centre or long axis of the box, ran the 
retort, which may be of various shapes, according to the 
material to be distilled ; the elliptical retort serves for 
coals or solid bitumens ; the retort is furnished with dis¬ 
charge-pipes for carrying off the volatile products. This 
apparatus is adapted to the distillation of turf, resins, 
bones, &c., as well as coal, lignite, and bituminous schists. 

Fusible metal has been used as a heating agent, in the 
direct way, by making the alloy, in a state of fusion, 
traverse a coil of pipes placed inside of the distilling 
vessel, using the alloy as steam is commonly used in steam- 
coils : this is the plan patented by Messrs. Davies, Syers 
& Humfrey, in England, December, 1855. 

In order to obviate the injury to the retorts, arising 
from the continued application of heat upon the under¬ 
surface, movable retorts have been adopted, involving 
the partial or complete rotation of the retort. One of the 
earliest forms of movable retorts was that breveted by 
Gingembre, of France, and described in the Brevets d* In¬ 
ventions, Yol. IX., p. 235, and pi. 26. In that case, the 
retort, after having been charged and distilled, was, before 
the new charge was inserted, turned round one-fourth of a 
revolution, and thus a new surface of the retort was pre¬ 
sented to the fire ; when again in operation, another turn 
was given, and thus, after four distillations, the same sur¬ 
face came again over the flame. By this means, the iron 
retorts were made to last five or six times as long as they 
otherwise would. 

The advantage of this change of surface, led to a mo- 


REVOLVING RETORTS. 


103 


tion of revolution going on during the operation of distil¬ 
lation. The brevet of Beslay & Rouen, described in 
Brevets d' Inventions, Yol. XLIII., pi. 6, patented this 
mode of renewing the surface over the tire. 

In April 15, 1858, David Alter & S. E. Hill, obtained 
a patent for an improvement in distillation of oils from 
coal, &c., which consisted in the use of a revolving cylin¬ 
drical metallic retort, with the eduction-pipe coinciding 
with the axle, and connected with the condenser ; the 
motion was communicated by a series of wheels worked 
by a weight, or other power. The retorts revolve slowly. 

T. D. Sargent obtained a patent in June 15, 1858, 
for a revolving retort, made of clay, and worked somewhat 
similar to the foregoing; other patents, involving slight 
novelties in the internal arrangement of the retort and 
issue-pipes, have been obtained within the last two years. 

The use of revolving-retorts, while leading to economy 
of the iron-retort, is perhaps no economy in the general 
manufacture ; for, accompanying the rotation of the cylin¬ 
der on its axis, is the constant disturbance of the coal, 
which, while it presents fresh surfaces of the mineral to 
the action of heat, also, by attrition, grinds into a powder, 
a portion of which is always necessarily carried up with 
the fluids, and gives not only a dark-colored, thick oil!, 
containing solid matter undissolved in it, but the pipes 
and eduction-tube are very apt to get clogged from the 
accumulation at the bends of the apparatus.. The exit- 
pipes are rarely wide enough, in this form of retort, to 
meet or cope with this accident. The oil obtained re¬ 
quires additional purification. 

To prevent this fine dust being carried over the end 
of the eduction pipe in the retort, is, in some apparatus 
(as in Sargent's), bent upward at an elbow to reach nearly 


104 


AGITATING ARMS. 


the inner surface of the cylinder ; in others, as in that 
patented by Jas. Gillespie, March, 1859, the mouth of the 
pipe is hopper-shaped, and is kept in a stationary vertical 
position inside of the retort, by means of pins, which sur¬ 
round and are inserted into the journal. 

In the apparatus patented by J. & W. B. McCue, the 
retort revolves J of its periphery by wheel and crank ar¬ 
rangement, and then returned to its original position, and 
this motion is repeated several times during distillation ; 
the interior of the retort has ribs running along its inner 
surface from front to rear, and a few inches apart; by this 
means, the coal was somewhat kept in place, and the 
constant agitation modified to a lesser degree. 

As all revolving retorts must be built in loosely in the 
brick casing, they are liable to get out of place, and the 
mechanism of operation is much more complex ; these 
circumstances are drawbacks to their operation and exten¬ 
sion in use, were they not subject to the objections already 
stated. 

There is no evidence yet afforded to show that the use 
of revolving retorts is accompanied with any solid advan¬ 
tages over stationary retorts. 

The coal or bitumen in the retort being very apt to 
burn, many attempts have been made to prevent such an 
accident, the most obvious plan being, to keep the coals in 
motion. The revolving retorts effect this to a degree. 
Additional apparatus for stirring has been recommended. 
Solid arms traversing the retort in its long axis, having 
blades or stirrers attached thereto, have been patented 
in England, in 1854, by Astley P. Price, who used a ver¬ 
tical retort, with agitating arms revolving in the centre, 
and allowing the coal to fall dowm at the sides ; the coal^ 
is fed in by a hopper, and an Archimedes screw used some- 


ARCHIMEDEAN SCREW. 


105 


times instead, placing the retort at variable angles of in¬ 
clination. 

The English patent of F. Archer and W. Papineau, 
dated December 15, 1854, involved the use of feed-rakes, 
or agitators, which, on revolution, made a screw-like mo¬ 
tion, and thus pushed the materials progressively onward. 
A horizontal cylindrical retort, fed by a hopper, was the 
apparatus used in this patent, in combination with the 
feed-rakes. 

In this country, similar agitating knives or stirrers, are 
described in the apparatus of C. Cherry (1856) ; John 
Nicholson (1859) ; Joseph E. Holmes (1859) ; and N. B. 
Hatch (1859). The use of agitators is open to the same 
objection as that of revolving retorts, viz., raising a quan¬ 
tity of fine dust, which is carried up and clogs the pipes : 
this acts to a less extent where the retort is vertical, than 
when it lies horizontal. 

The Archimedean screw is an old application in gas 
retorts, and has been transferred to coal-oil stills. The 
apparatus patented by Count de Hompesch contained 
this screw, which, while it kept the coal in agitation, also 
delivered the coke out of the farther end of the retort; 
the screw, in this case, fitting the internal bore of the re¬ 
tort accurately. The retort was placed horizontally, with 
a slight slope. 

In the American patent issued to Jas. O'Hara, Feb., 
1859, an upright retort is worked with an Archimedean 
screw of less diameter than the bore, the result of which 
is, that, while the coal in the centre of the retort is grad¬ 
ually drawn upwards by the screw, the mineral lying be¬ 
tween the edge of the screw and the wall of the retort is 
in a state of continual descent, and thus a constantly pro¬ 
gressive motion of the material distilled is being kept up. 


106 


TOWER DISTILLATION. 


In order to relieve the interior of the retorts from the 
pressure of the vapors as they are generating, various 
means have been adopted to remove the nascent vapors 
Aspirators have been used in gas works for a similar ob¬ 
ject, and their application in this species of distillation 
has been attended with great benefit. 

Aspirators have been used in the processes patented 
by Bellford, and others, in England, and by L. Atwood, in 
this country. 

A. E. L Belford, in his English patent (August 22, 
1853), describes the vertical tower or furnace, whose 
height is four times its breadth, and capable of holding 
three tons ; when the charge was delivered in by a man¬ 
hole above, a fire was lighted below, and the distillation 
allowed to proceed. The heated products of combustion 
passing upwards, carried upward the oils formed by the 
action of the fire upon the stratum of coal immediately 
above it, which, as the fire progressed, was driven through 
the exit pipe at the upper part of the chimney, into the 
condenser, the coal, as it was consumed, gradually drop¬ 
ping downward, and ultimately being removed by rakes 
through the opening immediately above the fire-bars. 

Wm. Brown patented, in England (August 23, 1853), 
a mode of distilling coals and bitumen in an upright 
tower, making use of the fire beneath to volatilize the 
newly-formed products. 

It may be observed of the distillation by towers or 
chimneys, that two principles, distinct from those in com¬ 
mon use, and not hitherto described, are involved; the 
first being the absence of application of external heat to 
the distilling vessel; and the second, the distillation by 
means of gaseous or vaporous matter, not in a state of ✓ 


DILTILLATION BY STEAM. 


107 


ignition : each of these principles deserve some notice in 
this place. 

It has been already frequently mentioned, that solid 
substances, exposed, in close vessels, to naked flame, are 
very liable to become burned in some places, and to be¬ 
come converted, at such points, into gas, while, in other 
parts of the same vessel, the distillation of condensible 
vapors is going on slowly ; in iron retorts, this is constant¬ 
ly the ' case, even when it is coated internally with an 
enamel or glaze, as in the apparatus patented by Messrs. 
Evans, in England, Sept. 14, 1854. To avoid this burn¬ 
ing, heating the mass from within has been tried, and 
forms the subject of many patents. 

Open steam, or steam of ordinary temperature and 
pressure, has been used in various ways, either by admit¬ 
ting it by a perforated pipe into the retort, while the 
outside was heated in the ordinary way; or by wetting 
the coal before being placed in the retort; as the tem¬ 
perature of the retort rises, the water becomes vaporized, 
and carries the oils over with it. Used in this way, 
steam cannot be considered properly a heating agent, 
since its chief action is to absorb heat from the coal, and 
thus really to keep the temperature of the inside of the 
retort below what it would otherwise be. But it is other¬ 
wise when steam is used either under high pressure or as 
super-heated steam ; in the latter case, its action is two¬ 
fold—it raises the temperature of the inside of the retort ; 
and 2dly, it decomposes the coal into oils. The steam is 
generally super-heated by being passed through coils of 
iron pipe traversing the furnace beneath the retort: where 
external heat is not applied to the retort, a separate fire 
is required. When the steam is heated to 660°, or 
thereabouts, distillation of the coal goes on freely, and no 


108 


SUPER-HEATED STEAM. 


external heat is needed : but in very many patented pro¬ 
cesses, both internal and external heat are applied con¬ 
temporaneously ; such is the case in the patent of Wm. 
Brown, January 13, 1853 ; also of J. F. F. Challeton, 
October 21, 1853 ; of Gr. F. Wilson, February 15, 1854; 
and of J. Chisholm, December 19, 1853 ; in all of 
which, except that of Wilson, super-heated steam was 
used internally. 

Super-heated steam is one of the most powerful agents 
in the hands of the chemist for producing chemical de¬ 
composition ; and the happy applications of Violette and 
Scharling to various technical purposes, are proofs of its 
advantageous use in many cases. 

In the distillation of coals or other materials to produce 
ltydro-carbon oils, it may be questioned, however, whether 
its use is advisable ; for, if we consider that the object of 
destructive distillation in close vessels is to preserve the 
material from the oxidation of external air, which, at high 
temperatures, is very powerful, the use of a substance 
capable of yielding, and which does yield oxygen abun¬ 
dantly at high temperatures, may very properly be con¬ 
sidered inappropriate : at high temperatures, carbon has 
sufficient affinity for oxygen to abstract the latter from 
hydrogen; and hence, steam is decomposed by charcoal, 
and carbonic oxide produced with the formation of hydro¬ 
gen. This liability of the carbon to be oxidated is to be 
obviated if possible ; a/nd when heated gases or vapors are 
to be used, those should be selected which do not yield 
oxygen : air, whose oxygen has been 'wholly converted 
into carbonic acid by complete combustion, is such ; but 
it is difficult, if not impossible, practically to obtain any 
supply of it. Nitrogen gas, derived from the deoxida¬ 
tion of air, would be a valuable agent ; perhaps the most 


INTERNAL-HEATED GASES. 


109 


efficient would be hydrogen gas, which, by uniting with 
the free carbon in the retort, might itself increase the 
production of oils ; hydrogen might be obtained by the 
decomposition of water in redhot vessels in the presence 
of scraps of iron, &c. It is, however, difficult to apply 
any gas or vapor with sufficient economy to make it a 
useful improvement ; and where it has been once used, as 
by Wagenmann, the practice has been given up as being 
too complex and too little remunerative. 

The only exception to this, is, the use of the heated 
products of combustion, in which the air is, to a large ex¬ 
tent, deprived of its free oxygen by the formation of car¬ 
bonic acid and carbonic oxide ; there is present, also, some 
water in the form of steam, and some sulphuric acid, 
where the air has previously passed through ignited coal. 

The only positively deleterious agent present, is that 
portion of heated air which has not lost its free oxygen. 
This proportion is, however, small ; and therefore, of all 
means of heating by gases passed through the material 
itself, the “ heated products of combustion,” as these 
gases are called, is the most economical and desirable. 

In the English patent of Wm. Little, dated Feb. 4, 
1854, these products are employed as follows : air is either 
driven through a fire by a blast, or drawn through by an 
aspirator ; after being 66 burned,” as it is termed, it is 
passed into the distilling vessel at its bottom, which it 
warms in transitu; it then passes upwards through the 
coal, to be discharged by an eduction pipe or chimney at 
top, associated with the hydro-carbon vapors which it pro¬ 
duced in its passage. 

This is an upward distillation, and is liable to the ob¬ 
jection already raised against the method of ascensional 
distillation for obtaining hydro-carbon oils, namely, that 


110 


INTERNAL HEAT. 


the oils, when formed, are readily condensible in the upper 
part of the still, and tend to drop down into the bottom 
of the heated retort, and become converted into permanent 
gases. 

There is no question that the adoption of distillation 
by gaseous heating internally, and the removal of external 
heat by naked fire, leads to a large increase in the produce 
of oil—an increase from 33 to 60 per cent, in many cases 
—that is to say, that coal yielding 33 per cent, of crude 
oil by naked fire, may be made to yield even 60 per cent, 
by using burned air alone. When the merits of this pro¬ 
cess become better known, it will be more universally 
adopted. 

The principle involved in the method of distilling coal, 
patented by Dr. L. Atwood in October, 1858, is virtually 
that by which the peat is distilled in the apparatus of 
Crane, already referred to ; but in carrying out the prin¬ 
ciple, the practice is modified. In both, the distillation 
is carried on by the heated products of combustion, being 
passed through the material to be distilled, no external 
fire being applied; the retort has a tower or chimney- 
shape (“ pipe/' technically), into which the coal is de¬ 
livered from above ; a fire being lighted at the top of the 
chimney, the eduction pipe is placed at the bottom, and 
is furnished, before it reaches the condenser, with a steam 
jet-pipe, which, when operated with a steam blast, by ex¬ 
hausting the tower, determines a current downward, carry¬ 
ing the heated products of combustion (carbonic oxide, 
carbonic acid, some steam, and some undeoxided air) down 
through the coal, and thus distilling the oil which it carries 
along with it into the condenser. 

The progress of distillation is more constant and uni¬ 
form in this tower retort than in any other form of ap- 


TOWER DISTILLATION. 


Ill 


paratus. The tower has many advantages : 1st. Its great 
capacity, which is now being made capable of holding 25 
tons in one of Atwood's pipes ; from one to four tons are 
the more ordinary quantity distilled in a tower ; the dis¬ 
tillation goes on until the oil ceases to come over, and is 
usually three days in operation : when it terminates, a jet 
of Croton water from a hose is made to play on the upper 
end of the tower until the coal is extinguished. Fire¬ 
brick and fire-stone are the materials. 

The advantage of Atwood's mode of distillation over 
the other analogous processes, which involve the use of 
the heated products of combustion as the agent of distil¬ 
lation, consists in conducting the vapors downwards. By 
this means, the nascent oils do not by condensation fall 
back or down upon the fire beneath, and by being con¬ 
verted into gas, cause a loss of the distillate : this is 
what must occur in the method adopted by Du Buis- 
son, which, in almost every other respect, resembles 
Atwood's. 

Dr. Atwood has patented other forms of apparatus 
for distillation of coal oils* all, however, preserving this 
feature of downward distillation : thus, in one apparatus, 
the fire is external to the tower, and communicated with 
its upper part by a series of flues, through which the 
heated gases are drawn into the pipe. 

From the foregoing details of the various modes of 
applying heat, it is evident that the improvements made 
have been in lessening the actual amount of heat applied, 
in distributing the heat more equally over the whole 
inside of the vessel. In the gradual desuetude of the 
practice of external heat to retorts, and in the use of 
chimney retorts or pipes, and in the use of the heated 
products of combustion, as the agent for supplying the 


112 


TOWER DISTILLATION. 


internal temperature in the pipe. Viewed independent 
of local causes, which occasionally determine certain 
methods of manufacture, not in themselves generally 
desirable, the process, as patented by Atwood, may be 
looked upon theoretically as par excellence the most 
advantageous method of distilling photogenic oils. 


CHAPTER YIII. 

COMMERCIAL MANUFACTURE. 

In another portion of this work, the result of the dis¬ 
tillation of coals and bituminous substances, with regard 
to the amount of produce obtained, has been given. In¬ 
asmuch as the bituminous differs in no respect intrinsi¬ 
cally in whatever country found, the results of the dis¬ 
tillation of American coal can in no respect greatly vary 
from that of European coals : the difference in the results 
are due to the different modes of working, as it has been 
shown in the chapter upon the application of heat, that 
the application and continued exhibition of the appropri¬ 
ate temperature has more effect in producing abundance 
of oils, than even the different quality of the coal, where 
the variability of the latter is not extreme. 

The following table of results of examinations of Can- 
nel coal from different localities, has been kindly placed 
at the author's disposal by Prof. Asahel K. Eaton, of 
New York :— 


8 


114 


AMERICAN PRODUCE. 


State. 

Locality. 

Amount of 
Crude Oil per Ton. 

Ammoniacal 
liquors, 
per cent. 

Kentucky, 

Breckenridge Cannel, 

140 Gall, 
ion 44 

83 

83 

Virginia, 

Cannelton, 

105 “ 

16 

u 

near Cannelton, 

93 “ 

20 

Ohio, 

Cochocton Co., 

87 “ 

20 

44 

u 

60 “ 

25 

44 

Mahoning Co., 


1 - s * 

44 

Lower Bed, Canfield, 

75 “ 

33 1 ® 

44 

Middle “ 

70 “ 

33 \ 2 

44 

Upper “ “ 

60 « 

83 J | 

44 

Mahoning Co., Lima, | 

Trt 44 

OA 


Upper and Middle Bed, j 


L\J 

44 

“ Lower Bed, 

45 “ 

25 

44 

“ unknown locality, 

66 “ 

33 

44 

Jefferson Co., near Steubenville, 

70 “ 

80 

44 

44 44 44 

45 “ 

16 

44 

Columbiana Co., E. Palestine, 

45 “ 

25 

Pennsylvania, 

Beaver Co., Darlington, 

55 « 

33 


“ near “ 

40 “ 

25 


The specific gravity of the crude oil, as it runs from 
the retorts at a temperature of 60° F., was about 21° 
Baum6. 

In contrasting the results which such tables as the 
foregoing yield, with those obtained by commercial manu¬ 
facture, allowance must be made, on the one hand, for the 
delicacy of the manipulation, and on the other, for the 
non-attendance to the precautions needed to avoid loss in 
distillation ; this loss, or the difference between the re¬ 
sults, amounts to nearly 25 per cent. 

Professor Eaton believes that the loss in actual work¬ 
ing results arises from inattention to the following indis¬ 
pensable conditions :— 

1st. That coal should be finely crushed, the finer the 
better. 

2d. The retorts should be worked at a very low red 
heat—the retort not being visibly red by daylight. 

3d. There should be no pressure whatever upon the 
retorts, but, if possible, a slight exhaust action. 

4th. A gas-tight retort. Leakage of the retorts ac¬ 
counts for much of the difference between practical results 










COMMERCIAL MANUFACTURE. 


115 


and laboratory practice, a difference which will cease to 
be found whenever the above conditions are regarded by 
the manufacturer. 

The produce by the operation of the revolving retort, 
patented by Alter & Hill, is very great. The retorts are 
now used 8 feet long, by 6 feet in diameter ; the retorts 
are charged every 2 hours with 16 bushels of the cannel 
coal of the vicinity,’"' and the charge is renewed 12 times 
daily ; the yield is, on average, 500 gallons daily of crude 
oil, which, on purification by simple redistillation in large 
iron stills, yields about 70 per cent, of commercial coal 
oil. 

The produce of the Lucesco and other works will be 
given farther on, when treating of the localities where 
the manufacture is carried on. 

According to Dr. Augustein, in 1855 there were three 
establishments in Germany, one in Hamburg, that of 
Wiesmann & Co., near Bonn, and that of Denis & Hoech, 
at Ludwigshafen. The number since then has increased. 

The Hamburg establishment uses cannel coal, and 
treats the distillate with sulphuric acid after it has been 
distilled several times ; it then resembles rock oil or pe¬ 
troleum, having a specific gravity of .785, and having 
very little of the peculiar odor of the mineral oil, being 
very free from sulphur, and is very superior to other simi¬ 
lar products on that account, thereby allowing its use in 
the worst ventilated rooms, and has a photometric value, 
compared with oil, as 4 to 1. 

These oils are much used for street illumination in 
Northern Germany; at the Hanover railroads, in all 
lamps placed out-doors, for which it is well adapted, as 
it never freezes during winter. 

* Thirty miles above Pittsburg, on the Alleghany river. 


116 


wagenmann’s process. 


The residuum of the second distillation is used in the 
manufacture of the artificial fuel, known as the Charbon 
de Paris. 

Paraffine is not prepared in Hamburg. The residual 
paraffinized oil is broken up or subjected to another dis¬ 
tillation at high temperatures, in order to obtain light 
fluids by the decomposition of the paraffine. 

At the establishment near Bonn, lignite, found in that 
vicinity, called leaf or paper coal, is operated on, which is 
distilled at a low red heat, in iron retorts like those used 
in gas works ; a blackish tar and ammoniacal liquid are 
the products. The former yields 90 per cent, of oils, 50 
per cent, of which are thin enough to burn in lamps; they 
are purified by treatment with sulphuric acid and alka¬ 
line ley. 

The process of manufacture of the hydro-carbon oils, 
is carried on at Bonn by Mr. P. Wagenmann thus :— 

The bituminous coal is broken into small lumps the 
size of a nut, and where the coal contains sulphur, it is 
sprinkled over with milk of lime; the coal is then placed 
in a desiccating furnace, 60 metres long, 6 metres wide, 
and divided into compartments with high walls more than 
half a metre high, and 1 T W metres * high; these form the 
supports of so many vaults on which the schists are placed 
to be dried ; below these are the waste residues of the 
distilled materials. 

When the coals are dried, they are distilled in retorts 
resembling those employed in manufacture of gas, except 
that the exit pipe is at the end opposite to the mouth ; 
two retorts are set over each fire : the retorts are about 

feet long, and 22 inches wide, with discharge tubes/ 
12 to 15 centimetres wide. The flame plays only on 

* The metre is equal to 39.y^- inches. 


wagenmann's process. 


117 


the bottom of the retorts, and thence passes into the 
chimney. 

Wagenmann prefers a bench of 16 retorts and 8 fires, 
disposed round a central chimney, so that the flame may 
circulate from one flue to another, and submit the re¬ 
torts to an increasing heat: the products .of distillation 
of the 16 retorts are led off by an iron pipe 78 feet long 
and 23 inches wide, kept constantly cooled by a stream of 
water on the outside. When the gases are passed through 
this pipe, they enter into a large iron cylinder filled with 
coke, which rids them of the last traces of tar they may 
possess ; thence they flow into a chimney 14 feet high, 
furnished with a draught and regulator. 

The liquid products of distillation flow into a grand 
reservoir, kept constantly at a temperature of 30 C., in 
which the tar separates from the ammoniacal waters ; 
these waters are mixed with the residue of the large re¬ 
torts, and furnish an excellent manure. 

The tar is drawn up by pumps into the purifying 
apparatus, where it is mixed with sulphate of iron in the 
proportion of 1,000 parts of tar with 40 parts of sulphate 
digested together for three-quarters of an hour at 30° 
cent.* The purifiers are large cast iron vessels of the 
capacity of 20 hectolitres,f in which the iron pipes move 
by mechanical power. 

The tar thus freed from sulphuret of ammonium is 
introduced into distilling vessels capable of holding 350 
gallons, and distilled by superheated steam. The pro¬ 
ducts of distillation condense in a leaden coil 32 to 39 
feet long, and 7 to 8 cent. wide. The following products 
of distillation are distilled in this way, i. e., by fractional 
distillation:— 

* Centimetre— r 3 /o of an inch. 

f A hectolitre is nearly equal to 26-J gallons, wine measure. 


118 


wagenmann’s process. 


1st. Volatile liquid, having specific gravity=.700 to .865 
2d. Heavy oils, for lubrication, 11 =.865 to .900 

3d. Paraffine, “ =.900 to .930 

These three substances are treated each with 4, 6, 
and 8 per cent, of sulphuric acid, 1| and 2 per cent, 
hydrochloric acid, and 1 per cent, acid chromate potass, 
with which they are agitated for half an hour. Allowed 
to rest for three hours, they are poured off the dregs, and 
mixed respectively with 2, 3, and 4 per cent, of a ley of 
caustic potass (marking 50 Baume) in iron vessels : 
finally, each of the products purified are placed in a still, 
and distilled by superheated steam. 

No. 1, mixed with No. 2, so as to obtain the specific 
gravity of 0.820, produces the Mineral Oil, or Photogen, 
which is burned in lamps adapted for that object. 

Part of the product distilled from No. 2 having a 
specific gravity .860 to .700, forms the Solar Oil, which 
may be burned in Argand or Carcel lamps. 

The remainder of No. 2, mixed with some of the 
product of No. 3, . furnishes the Lubricating Oil for 
machines. 

The rest of No. 3 is introduced into a vat, where the 
temperature is lowered until it crystallizes : in three or 
four weeks, the paraffine crystallizes in large tablets, and 
is separated from adherent oil by centrifugal machines 
making 2,000 revolutions per minute; the paraffine, 
melted and rolled into squares, is submitted, while cold, 
to the hydraulic press, under a pressure of 300,000 lbs. : 
it is melted again, and treated with 50 per cent, of con¬ 
centrated sulphuric acid at a temperature of 180° C. 
At the end of two hours, the paraffine separates from the 
acid, and is washed with water ; it is then run into cakes, 
and pressed, while hot, between two layers of hair cloth 


wagenmann's process. 


119 


in the hydraulic press, melted anew, and mixed with 5 
per cent, of stearine, for some hours, at a temperature 
of 150° C., in a leaden apparatus, and finally mixed with 
1 per cent, of solution of caustic potass, marking 40° 
Baume. At the end of two hours, all impurities are pre¬ 
cipitated, and the paraffine, limpid as water, is ready to 
he drawn off. 

Wagenmann, having worked one year with the pro¬ 
cess just described, which was patented by him in 1853, 
found it very defective in operation ; the stills were unre¬ 
liable, owing to unequal action of the heat, causing—lstly. 
Irregular results in distillation; the adjustment of the heat 
not being manageable, so as to keep down the augmenting 
temperature of the oil. 2dly. The time occupied in dis¬ 
tillation was too long—the oils requiring two rectifica¬ 
tions ; one still containing 1,500 quarts requiring 36 hours 
for distillation, and 12 hours for subsequent cooling and 
purifying, there could then be only two distillations of 
1,500 quarts, in 96 hours. 3dly. The separation of the 
oils was very incomplete ; if a still, distilling oil of .870 
specific gravity, he put out of operation, allowed to cool, 
and then repeated, it will distil oil not of .870, hut of .920 
specific gravity : for this reason, the oils so distilled fur¬ 
nish always hut little of a light thin fluid, and contain 
paraffine, which is not desirable. 4thly. The temperature 
in the still, even when steam was employed, became too 
high, the loss also being large, as only 91 to 92 per cent, 
of distilled fluids are obtained from the still. This loss 
was so great as to have led Wagenmann to adopt a differ¬ 
ent mode of distillation;—he was led to think that dis¬ 
tillation in vacuo would remove all these defects. 

To remedy the injury arising from suddenly cooling or 
heating iron retorts, he added ends of copper to the iron 


120 


wagenmann’s process. 


body of the retort, and used copper riveting. The dis¬ 
tillation of tar, after it is separated from sulphide of am¬ 
monium, commences above the temperature of high pres¬ 
sure steam, and is best effected by the combustion of the 
gas, derived from the distillation of the crude tar. 

The apparatus consists of two sections of a sphere, 
with a cylindrical-shaped vessel in the centre, capable of 
containing 1,500 to 1,800 quarts, with a diameter of 6 
feet; the lower hemisphere is surrounded with a jacket 
perforated with holes, opening into a pipe leading to the 
flue ; the gas burners enter through apertures in the lower 
part of the jacket, the gas burners consuming 80 cubic 
feet per hour ; a try-cock is attached to the lower part of 
the vessel; also one for the admission of steam, through 
a circular coil; on the cylinder is the cock connected with 
the supply-box, and the steam cock for the coil; a cock 
for the direct supply of naked steam ; a tube for drawing 
off the liquid matters to settle ; -and a pipe connecting the 
cylinder with the reservoir. The cylinder is surrounded on 
the outside by a stratum of clay, loam, and straw, chopped, 
to the thickness of 3 inches, so as to prevent the escape 
of heat. The man-hole is placed at the top of the ves¬ 
sel, a thermometer graduated to 300° Celsius ; a barom¬ 
eter ; an air-cock ; two eye-pieces for observations of 
the workmen ; a pipe 5 inches high leads from the man¬ 
hole to the supply vessel; this, as well as the hemisphere, 
has the same coating as the cylinder. The main, or 1st 
receiving vessel, is a double column, connected internally 
with the condenser, the outer column receiving the heavy 
fluid distilling over, which falls back again into the. still. 
The outer column has also the pipe for the reception of 
fluid destined for the supply vessel alluded to above ; a 
pipe for injecting cold water to condense ; also a main 





PURIFICATION OF CRUDE OIL. 


121 


cork to disconnect the apparatus, and the air-pump ; to 
this is connected a condensing tube, 100 feet long, and 3 
inches wide, cooled by cold water on outside. This tube 
is connected with air-pumps, the latter having barrels 11 
inches wide, and a stroke 13 inches high ; these lift 
water and oil into open casks, where they are separated 
from each other by repose ; the stuffing boxes are made 
from rings of cast steel. The operation is conducted 
thus : the tar is deprived of its sulphur by copperas, and 
then distilled till the liquid is divided in 2 portions—No. 
1 and No. 2. No. 1 is oil obtained from the commence¬ 
ment until it reaches 0.870 specific gravity. No. 2 is 
that obtained from thence on, until the process is com¬ 
pleted. 

No. 1 is mixed for 4 hours with 6 per cent, of con¬ 
centrated oil of vitriol; } per cent, bichromate potass, and 
^ per cent, of muriatic acid. 

No. 2 is likewise mixed for 4 hours with 8 per cent, 
of oil vitriol, } per cent, chromate potash, and 1 per cent, 
of muriatic acid ; in two hours the oils are drawn off, and 
well washed with steam and ley. These washed oils are 
brought into the reservoir ; 1,500 quarts of No. 1 is passed 
into the apparatus, and the workman then admits steam 
into the coil; in 20 minutes a temperature of 40° Cent, 
is attained, when distillation begins—the vacuum is kept 
at from 25 to 27 inches—violent ebullition or foaming 
from the presence of water, which only stops at 70° C. 
T he workman looks through the eye-pieces in the vacuum 
to open the air-pipe, if the fluids should rise too high, and 
a little skill easily prevents any being carried over. At the 
beginning of the distillation, cold water is thrown into 
the condensing fluid by the injecting pipe, to remove any 
dirt adhering. The first 5 quarts are returned to the 


122 


hubner’s process. 


reservoir as foul liquid. The heat in two hours is raised 
to 100° C. Then the gas is lighted, and the apparatus 
is heated externally by it ; at 120°, the steam is shut off 
from the coil, and the naked steam cock opened, to main¬ 
tain a continued motion in the oil; this pipe is not more 
than 1 inch wide ; distillation then proceeds quietly, and 
water is constantly thrown in to keep the pumps clean, 
and the temperature is raised from 20° to 25° per hour. 
No. 1 is worked at a temperature of 130° to 140°, and 
No. 2, 180° to 190°. 

Photcgen distils over at 200° ; after that the heavy 
oils are produced, the distillation of which ceases at 250°. 
The residuum is paraffine, which is removed by a lift- 
pump into the still. The distilled paraffine is placed in 
a cellar, and crystallized in moulds. 

While the process by the still yields a profit of 92 per 
cent., that of the vacuum apparatus yields 97 to 98 per 
cent. ; the 2d distillation reduces the profit of the still to 
84 per cent. 

Dr. B. Hubner, who has charge of the coal oil manu¬ 
factory of Messrs. Baumeister & Co., at Bitterfeld, gives 
the following account of the mode of working, with obser¬ 
vations of his own thereon : * 

“ Brown coal, when distilled in close vessels, com¬ 
mences by breaking up into small pieces, and leaves a 
coke somewhat resembling gas-coke, though not so dense ; 
it retains the form of the coal, and is used as fuel for the 
retorts.” The object being to obtain the greatest possible 
amount of tar, he found it essential that the lowest possi¬ 
ble temperature should be exhibited, and that the prod¬ 
ucts formed should be removed from the retorts as quickly 
as formed : this is attained by using condensing tubes 

* Dingier Polytechnisclies Journal, Band CXLYI., p. 211. lSSY. 


hubner's process. 


123 


not too narrow, and by avoiding as much as possible the 
use of an hydraulic vessel or main, and by a proper con¬ 
struction of condensers. He describes his process as fol¬ 
lows : “ I use cast iron elliptical retorts, 8 feet long, 27 
inches wide, and 10 inches high ; these have this advan¬ 
tage over ^ shaped retorts ; they are removable when 
they happen to get burned ; the eduction is at the back, 
the tube for which is at the upper part of the retort, and 
has this shape (c) where it leaves the retort, so as to 
create a large passage, and should be 6J inches wide, at a 
distance of 3| inches from the bottom of the retort. The 
tube has an elbow on it, and has a man-hole in it at the 
angle, covered with a screw cap. 

“ Two retorts lie over one fire, with an arched lattice 
floor between the retorts and the fire : the upper part of 
the retorts are protected by a layer of ashes, and they 
(retorts) are so set in the furnace as to be easily put in 
and taken out/' 

In Saxony, the distillation is carried on for many days 
together, by placing several retorts with the fire playing 
across them, and escaping at the last one ; and in its 
course, it plays on the bottom of one, and on the top of the 
next, and so on. Low square boxes are the shapes of the 
retorts, which are filled with coal, so that the coal can be 
heated both above and below ; the lower retort is heated 
and distilled first. This plan is adopted to save fuel, and 
to obtain the largest amount of matter worked in the 
shortest time. 

Hubner found his own process to be better than this 
Saxon one, as regards quantity and quality. 

There are many defects in several-day systems ; the 
process of carbonization should be carried on at low tem¬ 
peratures ; the lower retorts will always be overheated, 


124 


hubner’s process. 


while the upper one will not he exhausted : the gradua¬ 
tion of the heat is very unequal. 

When two retorts only are employed, Hubner recom¬ 
mends that their dimensions he increased above that given 
by him ; and care should be taken that carbonization goes 
on all round the retort, from the periphery to the centre. 
The coal becomes soon agglutinated by the heat, and di¬ 
minishes considerably in volume ; when the retort becomes 
heated to redness, the volatile vapors are decomposed, and 
naphthaline is produced, with a corresponding diminution 
of paraffine and the lighter oils. 

Each of the retorts first-mentioned are filled with 3 
bushels (Prussian) of coal, which, when dry, weighs 280 
lbs. (Prussian) ; this forms a stratum 3 to 4 inches in 
depth of the retort, and a free space is thus left for the 
escape of the vapors, only small portions of which come 
into contact with the highly-heated portions of the retort, 
which never quite attain a red-heat ; the period which 
elapses before perfect carbonization takes place, varies 
from 8 to 10 hours. Fifty of such retorts at work can 
use up, in 24 hours, from 360 to 450 bushels, or from 
30,000 lbs. to 37,500 lbs. of coal. Slack or fine coal takes 
longer time to distil than lump coal. It is advantageous 
to make the slack into lump before using it, because the 
heat then reaches all portions of the coal more readily 
through the vacant spaces between the lumps. 

In Bitterfeld, the lump coal is separated from the 
slack by screening, the slack being left for fuel. Hubner 
conducted a small quantity of low pressure steam through 
the retorts, so that the steam pipe, finely perforated, being 
laid at the bottom of the retort, the steam passes through 
the glowing coal, carrying off the products formed very 


hubner’s process. 


125 


rapidly, and pure coal is very readily distilled by it. He 
does not speak of the economy of using steam. 

The use of tubes for superheated steam is very ex¬ 
pensive, owing to the loss by exposure to heat, and in a 
new manufacture would not pay, especially in that coun¬ 
try, because it is a new manufacture, where simplicity is 
required in the apparatus used at the outset. 

The eduction-tubes enter a common main, 18 inches 
wide, provided with a man-hole. The main is kept cool 
in water. Tar and water collect chiefly in this ; but 
little escapes away with the gases, which are passed 
through a series of condensers, consisting of one pipe 
placed within another ; the gases pass through the outer, 
which is cooled by water, passing along the inner, also 
cooled on the inside, and deposits the tar. If the pipes 
are sufficiently long, wider tubes act most efficiently, for 
obvious reasons. There is a draught affixed at the point 
where the gases are drawn off, which are used for heating 
the furnaces and boiler ; the chimney takes the place of 
the aspirator'o. The use of condensers and purifiers of 
the gas is objectionable, as increasing the pressure upon 
the retorts, and preventing the ready escape of the prod¬ 
ucts when formed ; a central iron vessel is placed in the 
centre, and the condensers around it, into which the tar 
and other products are delivered. The tar and am- 
moniacal liquor separate from each other in this ; by 
suitable processes, the tar is drawn off clean and free 
from the water, ready for the still. 

The separation of tar from water depends on the 
relative gravity of the two liquids—in fact, upon the 
lightness of the tar, and the thickest tar is generally the 
lightest. 

The first light oils come over at 100° Cent.,, with a 


126 


DISTILLATION OF LIGNITE. 


small quantity of tarry water. When the temperature 
reaches 200° C., there is a momentary cessation of distil¬ 
lation, and a great commotion in the still. When the 
heat is again pushed, the paraffine oils come over, which 
readily solidify. Heat is continued until no more fluid 
product is obtained. When the bottom of the still 
becomes red, heavy red and pungent vapors arise, along 
with a yellow fatty tenacious fluid, containing naphtha¬ 
line, which is the constant companion of products obtained 
at a high temperature ; at this point, a little water is 
also formed by oxidation of the hydrogen. 

The vapors are very injurious to the eyes, and should 
be conducted off. 

It is not economical to distil the tarry liquid by over¬ 
heated steam. 

A still holding 1,000 Prussian quarts, takes 24 hours 
to distil over. 

Tar oils from the Bitterfeld coal, when treated with 
soda, lose 27 per cent., and the tar oils of the Kcepsner 
coal, being very hydrogenated, lose 17 per cent. 

The crude oils vary in gravity, according to the pro¬ 
portion of creosote. The oils from Bitterfeld range from 
.890 to .860, while the Kcepsner coal varies from .860 
to .840. 

Dr. H. Yohl, of Bonn, who has had much experience 
in the dry distillation of paper coal, recommends a low 
temperature at commencement, to be raised to a red heat 
at the end, and that the products be rapidly removed as 
they are generated. The slate is to be first broken into 
small pieces of uniform size (not larger than a walnut) ; 
if not, they will suffer unequally, the larger pieces not 
being decomposed when the small ones are fully operated 
on ; they will diminish the profit, and increase the pro- 


DISTILLATION OF LIGNITE. 


127 


portion of gas, and produce less oil, because the last por¬ 
tions in the inside of tbe coal must be decomposed. 

Slate, in form of slack, is equally prejudicial, by not 
allowing tbe escape of tbe oily vapors, owing to tbe close 
packing of tbe mass, and thus exposes them to too bigb a 
temperature, producing olefiant and marsb gases. 

The water contained in slate lias an influence on tbe 
yield of oil. Vohl obtained from perfectly dry slate, pro¬ 
portionally less light oil than from slates only air-dried, 
still containing 24 to 25 per cent, of water ; this ratio is 
that which yields tbe largest amount of oil. Tbe action 
of water on slate during distillation is twofold : 1st, it 
protects tbe slate from too bigb a degree of beat ; and 
2d, it assists mechanically in carrying off tbe vapors pro¬ 
duced. 

Yobl mentions that a loss is produced by too bigb a 
beat, causing tbe paraffine to adhere tenaciously to tbe 
gas. Tbe paraffine may be recovered, by passing tbe gas 
through a barrel filled with forge-scales, which separates 
tbe solid matter ; this is not very remunerative, since tbe 
profit from this plan is only 0.1 per cent., and it is not 
desirable to adopt it, since experience has shown that tbe 
danger of explosion arising from condensers is very great, 
where tbe method of separating the last portions of oil 
held by tbe gas is adopted. 

The Rhenish coals sometimes contain poisonous metal¬ 
lic salts ; brilliant crystalline scales of arsenious acid, 
mixed with sulphide of arsenic and metallic arsenic, form 
at tbe elbow of tbe escape-pipe leading to tbe main ; and 
Dr. Yobl states that the slates worked off at tbe furnaces 
of Romerickeberge and Stupgen, near Lintz, on tbe 
Rhine, owned by A. Wiesmann & Co., contain a large 
quantity of these poisonous products, and on removing 


128 


PURIFICATION OF OILS. 


the cap of the retort, a strong smell of arsenic is per¬ 
ceived, and the workmen suffer from colic, ulcers at the 
root of the nose, of the joints, and an irritable condition 
of the skin. 

The coal oils, as at present sent into the market, are 
very impure ; the demand is so great and disproportioned 
to the supply, that the manufacturer has neither the ne¬ 
cessity nor the time allowed him to redistil or otherwise 
purify his secondary products arising from distillation of 
tar. When, however, from a reduced price of animal oil, 
or any other cause, the demand for oil slackens, then the 
purification will increase in proportion. In France, where 
vegetable oils, as rape, camelina, and colza seeds, are ex¬ 
tensively grown, the oils of schist, as produced by Sel- 
ligue and others, are sold in a state of great purity ; and 
in this country, although the public, from motives of 
economy, may consume coal oils, they will never be used 
from choice or motives of cleanliness, so long as they are 
sold in their present condition. 

The object of purification is, to separate the viscous, 
semi-solid, and solid hydro-carbons which are suspended 
in the lighter oils, and which, from their containing a 
large percentage of carbon, cannot be made to burn in 
ordinary lamps without producing smoke, and which pro¬ 
duce this annoyance even when present in no large amount 
in the more volatile liquids. 

A redistillation of the oil, carefully conducted, re¬ 
moves much impurity which is retained in the still. The 
loss of light oil is, however, very large, especially where 
naked fire is used to heat the still; hence, naked steam, 
introduced by a coil perforated at the extremity, has been 
adopted by R. Warrington and others. 

Steam, under a higher, but yet moderate pressure, has 


PURIFICATION OF OILS. 


129 


also been employed, both alone and in conjunction with 
external heat, supplied by a steam-jacket, or by fire. 
The use of steam, in any manner applied (except super¬ 
heated), is, cceteris paribus , a more desirable mode of ex¬ 
hibiting heat than by naked fires. Yet the cost of fittings, 
boiler, and attendance, may in some situations be such, 
that the saving effected by steam would be no economy ; 
and in the majority of coal oil factories, the naked fire is 
applied to the bottom of the iron still. 

In addition to re-distillation, the use of chemical 
agents as purifiers is largely adopted, especially in Europe. 
Sulphuric acid, caustic soda solution, hydrate of potass 
and soda, and manganate or permanganate of potass and 
nitric acid, are the substances most in use : the sulphuric 
acid, the most powerful, unites with several heavy hydro¬ 
carbons, and removes them from the lighter, upon which 
it has but little action. The manganate of potass and 
nitric acid, when used, oxidizes several compounds, and 
thus detaches them from the light oils, and the soda serves 
the double purpose of neutralizing any acid left in the 
oils not previously washed out, and also dissolves out the 
creosote, or carbolic acid. 

The purification is effected by chemical means, the 
impurities not being capable of separation by any means 
of filtration. 

Mansfield, in his patent for obtaining volatile products 
from tar, describes the purification of benzule by nitric 
acid, and nitro-muriatic acid. These acids are rarely now 
employed, sulphuric acid being cheaper and more ef¬ 
fective. 

The general apparatus for purification does not differ 
in its essential particulars from that of the purification of 
gas : a retort or still furnished with refrigerating tubes to 
9 


130 


PURIFICATION OF OILS. 


conduct away the distilled liquids ; hydraulic mains and 
purifying boxes are the forms of apparatus. In the main, 
the watery portions separate from the oily and tarry 
matters, and in the purifying boxes, the less permanent 
hydro-carbons are broken up and removed. 

Gr. Barry, by his process, patented Sept. 18, 1855, 
operates in this way. The receiver is placed apart from 
the retort, and connected by pipes which enter partly into 
the former : a condenser is provided with refrigerating 
tubes, condensing the raw oils and ammoniacal waters. 
The purifiers are made of wooden cases, lined with lead, 
and provided with agitators. The oils are placed in these 
after the thick tar has been separated, and treated with 
5 per cent, its weight of sulphuric acid. Agitation goes 
on for 3 hours ; the liquid is left to settle for 3 hours, 
drawn off into a second purifier, placed under the first, 
when 5 per cent, of their weight of caustic soda, or a suf¬ 
ficient quantity of lime-water is added, and the whole is 
well stirred for several hours, and then allowed to settle. 

After the above process, they are redistilled in the 
same manner as molasses or rum ; after the distillation, 
the thick liquid tar which remains in the cucurbit, may 
be converted into a black grease by mixing it with caustic 
soda ; when well stirred, and kept at 75° to 85° F. for 
two or three hours, saponification sets in, and the matter 
being run into suitable receivers, forms the paraffinized 
grease. 

The distillation of raw oils is conducted in a cucurbit, 
placed over the furnace ; it has a man-hole for cleansing 
it, and communicates by a pipe with a coil, from which 
the products of distillation are discharged into the receiver. 
The patentee states that the temperature, while distilla¬ 
tion is going on, should not exceed from 400° to 600° F. 


PURIFICATION OF OILS. 


131 


Hiram Hyde, in his English patent, dated Nov. 24, 
1855, describes a method of obtaining volatile oils from 
petroline, or semi-fluid bitumens, which consists in the 
rapid application of temperature, beginning about 650°, 
and passing up to 800°. What is volatilized below 600°, 
he rejects, as containing too little parafflne ; that between 
the two temperatures is a brown crude oil. This is 
placed in a leaden vessel, and churned with sulphuric 
acid for two hours at 90° F. The oil is then drawn off, 
and agitated with a solution of caustic soda at 30° Baume, 
for three hours ; a strong solution of manganite or per- 
manganite of potass is then mixed with the oil, agitated 
for an hour, and left to repose. The oil is then distilled 
with caustic soda, up to 850°, when the distillate begins 
to assume a brown hue ; the distilled oil is washed with 
soda solution and jets of steam. By this means, oils 
having a boiling point of 600° may be obtained. This 
product is a mixture of hydro-carbons, and is perhaps 
allied to the coup-oil described as produced by the patent¬ 
ed process of Boss. 

Schauffele's mode of purifying benzule so as to be 
unaffected by air or light, remaining always colorless, is, 
to shake 1 litre of the crude benzule with 100 grammes 
of ordinary sulphuric acid ; allow it to settle for two or 
three hours ; decant the benzule, and shake it anew with 
another 100 grammes of sulphuric acid ; as soon as the 
separation of the two liquids occurs, the thick colored 
benzule stratum is decanted off as it floats on the acid, 
and is shaken with 40 to 50 grammes of dry potash. 
Sulphate of potash is formed, and the benzule becomes 
colorless; it is tested, to prove neutrality, and filtered 
through paper. 

In Brooman’s English patent for the distillation of 


132 


PURIFICATION OF OILS. 


coal-oil, dated Feb. 28, 1856, being a communication from 
France, retorts and receivers (of common kind) are used for 
obtaining crude oil, pipes leading from the retorts direct 
into the receiver. A cucurbit, placed over a furnace, is used 
for distilling the raw materials. The beat for distillation, it 
is stated, must not exceed 300° C., (572° F.) The raw oil 
is distilled by a primary distillation, to get rid of the tar. 
The oil is brought into contact with 5 per cent, of oil of 
vitriol, with agitation for three or more hours; then left 
to settle and draw oif into a new purifier; it is then 
treated with 5 per cent, of caustic soda, or an equivalent 
of lime-water. 

The distilled oil yields a light essential oil (1), whose 
density at first is 70° of Gay Lussac's Areometer. Distil¬ 
lation is carried on until the liquid has a density of 50°. 
The first results being light, should be collected separately. 
With careful distillation, the next batch (2) is collected, 
until it attains a density of 32° Areometer ; this oil may 
be used for lighting. The heat must be increased for 
further distillation, when the distilled product (3) will be 
the lubricating greasy material. 

The residue in the cucurbit is a tarry matter. The 
paraffine may be separated from 2 by cold (10° to 20° C.) 
which may be obtained by a mixture of ice and sulphate 
of soda. 

Mr. Bancroft, of Liverpool, patented a process for ob¬ 
taining volatile products from distillation of bitumen or 
earth-oil, found in Burmah, which consisted in passing 
high-pressure steam through a still in which the petroleum 
was placed, the pressure being 50 to 60 lbs. to the square 
inch ; a fire is placed beneath the still until Jth of tjie 
original quantity is distilled over, which is eupion nearly 
pure ; this distillate is removed, the fire urged, and steam 


AREA OF PRODUCTION. 


133 


supplied until the remaining 95 parts, or nearly so, have 
come over, which is eupion combined with hydro-carbons, 
holding paraffine in solution : at the close, paraffine and 
pyrole come over largely ; the condensing pipes must be 
kept at a temperature of 90° F., rising to 120° at the 
close of the distillation : the residuum in the still contains 
a large amount of paraffine, which may be obtained by 
distilling in an iron retort at a low red heat. 

Barry, in his patent for decomposing schistose mate¬ 
rials, says the heat for the production of oils should never 
exceed 400° to 600° F. 

The area of manufacture of coal-oils is limited, being 
chiefly confined to the districts where cannel coal can be 
mined with economy ; hence, the States of Kentucky, 
Virginia, Pennsylvania, Ohio, and Illinois, include at 
present all the great centres of manufacture. Factories 
will shortly be established in Missouri, and in every other 
State where this highly bituminous coal can be obtained. 
The State of New York is the only exception to the fore¬ 
going, the manufacture there being carried on at the sea¬ 
board, where the crude mineral (Boghead coal) can be 
most cheaply delivered. As it is established at the largest 
market in the U. S., what is overpaid by the use of a 
costly raw material, is balanced by the reduction of cost 
of transportation of the refined oil. The following brief 
and necessarily imperfect notice of the localities of manu¬ 
facture in this country, contains as complete a list as the 
author could obtain information about:— 

Pennsylvania. —At Darlington Village, Beaver Co., there exists 
one manufactory of considerable capacity, and three in which the works 
are on a small scale. 

At Darlington Station, or New Galilee, two miles from the village, 
are the works of the New York Coal Oil Co. This Company rectifies 
the crude oil. A second manufactory is being raised in this vicinity. 


134 


LOCALITIES OF MANUFACTURE. 


One and a half miles above the mouth of the Kiskiminetas River, 
on the Alieghany River, in Armstrong Co., the works of Brereton, 
Williams & Co. are being erected. The revolving retorts of Alter & 
Hill are introduced. Five retorts are to be set up. 

Near Freeport, in Alleghany township, Armstrong Co., on the Al¬ 
leghany River, are the works of the North American Coal & Oil Co. 
The works have been in operation since July, 1858. Eight of Alter & 
Hill’s retorts are in operation, 4 large and 4 small. The small ones 
are 6 feet long and 4 feet in diameter, the large retorts 8 feet long and 
6 feet in diameter. Capital invested, $70,000. 

The Lucesco Oil Co. commenced operations about the first of April.* 

At Rochester is a factory where both the making crude oil and re¬ 
fining are carried on. 

At Chester, near Philadelphia, is an establishment for refining the 
crude oil, being supplied from the western part of the State in which 
comparatively little in the way of refining is done. 

At Pittsburg there is one establishment. 

Ohio. —East Palestine, Columbiana Co., has a large factory for 
crude oil. 

At Canfield, Mahoning Co., there are two large establishments, 
both distilling crude oil, and refining. A third factory is in process 
of erection. 

Close by Steubenville, one medium-sized factory exists, and another 
is being built. 

At Newark are three manufactories of crude oil. 

In Cochocton Co., one manufactory is in operation, and six others 
nearly ready for working. 

Virginia. —In Franklin Co., near the Kanawha River, the Union 
Oil Co., of Maysville, Ky., have their factory for manufacturing crude 
oil; refining is conducted at Maysville. 800 gallons of crude oil per 
day is at present produced here, but when all the retorts now being 
erected are completed, there will be a capability of educting 3.200 gal- 

* The Lucesco Works, in Westmoreland Co., are probably the largest 
works at present in operation in the country. The capital invested is $120,- 
000. There are now in working order, ten large revolving retorts placed 
over as many furnaces, each retort having a capacity of 21 tons. The min¬ 
eral is distilled for 24 hours. The crude oil is rectified at the works in stills 
having a capacity of 2,000 gallons, each armed with agitators, and heated by 
naked fire ; 16 of these stills are erected. The amount of crude oil produced 
is almost 6,000 gallons per diem. 



LOCALITIES OF MANUFACTURE. 


135 


Ions per diem. At the same locality, within five miles of the river, 
another factory has been started, upon a capital of $30,000. 

In the vicinity of Wheeling, some large works are being erected; 
and on Big Sandy River some crude distillation is carried on on a mod¬ 
erate scale. 

Kentucky. —The Breckenridge Coal Oil Co. have their extensive 
works at Cloverport, Ky., where 6,000 gallons per week (May, 1858,) 
of crude oil are distilled. The coal has already been described; it 
yields, according to Dr. Peters, for every 100 lbs., 32 lbs. of crude oil. 

In Owsley Co., the coal known as “Haddock’s Cannel Coal” is 
extensively manufactured, and yields 55 to 60 gallons of crude oil to 
the ton. 

New Yoek. —At Brooklyn, on Flushing river, is located the New 
York Kerosene Oil Co.’s works; both the refining and distilling crude 
oils are carried out here. The crude oil is distilled from Boghead 
mineral (coal,) solely in towers or pipes, as patented by Luther At¬ 
wood in 1858. Those in operation at present hold 25 tons of coal, and 
are lighted by anthracite coal, assisted by pine wood at the commence¬ 
ment. The Company are erecting larger retorts than those now in 
use, being intended to contain 100 tons of coal. The daily produce of 
crude oil is 1000 gallons. 

On the above-mentioned stream, at its mouth, is the factory of the 
Columbia Coal Oil Co., who heretofore have manufactured crude oil 
from the Asphalte (or coal) of New Brunswick (the Albert mineral) ; 
more lately, however, their attention is almost solely devoted to the 
refining the crude oils received from the western part of Pennsylvania. 

Besides the foregoing, a third establishment is now at work in East 
Brooklyn.* 

* The foregoing list of localities is perhaps imperfect: it is the fullest the 
author could obtain. 


APPENDIX TO CHAPTER II. 


During the years 1858 and 1859 extensive borings for the 
purpose of obtaining petroleum or rock oil have been made in 
Pennsylvania and Ohio. In the former State the most extensive 
and successful sinkings have been made between the Alleghany 
river and the western limit of the State ; along that river native 
springs of petroleum have existed which, oozing through the su¬ 
perficial clay, have formed a tenacious, pasty mass. In the vi¬ 
cinity of these springs the artificial wells have been made by sink¬ 
ing a bore deep enough to reach the thin layer of bitumen flowing 
between the strata. The region now examined may be defined as 
commencing a short distance above Pittsburg, on the Alleghany 
river, n Alleghany Co., along the western limit of the State; 
thence east along the New York State line to the east limit of 
McKean Co.; thence S. W. to the Alleghany river, where the 
Conemaugh river joins it. The chief localities are along Maho¬ 
ning creek, in Armstrong Co.; along the Clarion river, in Clarion 
Co.; on Oil creek, in Titus, Crawford, and Warren Cos.; at Ti- 
dionte, in Warren, near the Alleghany river; along French creek, 
in Crawford, to Causewago valley. 

As the whole of this region is underlaid by what is known to 
geologists as the coal measures, the petroleum is derived from the 
natural separation of the bitumen from the carbonaceous portion 
of the coal, which, oozing upward from faults or fissures in the 
coal seam, drains off between the strata, and follows the inclination 
of the latter until it reaches the surface in some denuded portion 


APPENDIX. 


137 


of the coal bed. This gradual oozing over extensive surfaces 
yields a large supply of liquid, from which those who sink wells 
deep enough to reach a thick stratum of petroleum may expect to 
have an abundant and constant yield, hut it is perhaps unneces¬ 
sary to contradict the popular belief in the existence of a subter¬ 
ranean lake from which these supplies are drawn; such an opinion 
only could arise from an ignorance of the origin of the petroleum 
itself. It may be stated that rock oil may be expected to be found 
in situations where the bituminous coal seams are much disturbed 
by fractures and dislocations. Where a seam is unbroken no pe¬ 
troleum can escape. The petroleum region, therefore, may be 
expected wherever coal seams are inclined or tilted at a higher 
angle than that at which deposition occurred ; yet a petroleum 
spring may not be expected at the eastern extremity of the Penn¬ 
sylvania coal beds, as they have not only been contorted, but so 
altered by subterranean heat as to have lost most, and in some 
parts all, of their bitumen. 

The special localities in Pennsylvania where petroleum is 
sought for, are : 

On Oil creek, 2|- miles from its mouth, Messrs. McClintock 
have a well bored in the fissure of a rock, from which for many 
years was collected about 15 gallons of oil per diem. The well 
is 40 feet deep. An engine and pump are being erected. Near 
this locality Messrs. Crawfords have commenced sinking. 

At Titusville, Crawford Co., about lh mile below the turn, is 
the well of Messrs. Drake & Co., the Pioneer well. From 10 to 
25 bbls. per day are pumped. Bore, 4| inches in diameter, 
through 29 feet of earth and 40 feet of rock—total, 69 feet. A 
surface spring formerly existed here, in which the oil and water 
rose up through a coarse gravel, and yielded about 12 to 15 gal¬ 
lons per diem. The history of the Pioneer well is as follows : 

The Pennsylvania Bock Oil Co. purchased the petroleum 
spring of Brewer, William & Co., and leased it in 1858 to Mr. 
E. L. Drake, with the understanding that he should gather the 
oil at his own expense and pay 12 cents per gallon for it. In 
May, 1859, Mr. D. commenced boring, and after sinking a shaft 
71 feet, a fissure or fault was struck, from which the oil oozed 
readily. 

Within a mile of the town, on bottom land, about a quarter 


138 


APPENDIX. 


mile from Oil creek, Messrs. Barnsdale & Co. have sunk a 4 
inch bore through 29 feet of earth and 41 feet of rock—total, 
70 feet: a considerable supply is promised here. 

Within 30 rods of the preceding is the well of Messrs. Wil¬ 
liams & Co. The boring was conducted in clay for the first 96 
feet, when rock was reached : a 5 inch cast-iron tube was sunk. 
The following statement gives the total depth and character of 
the rock bored: 


Distance 

One foot muck,. 1 

Five feet blue clay, 0 

Forty-three feet mixed gravel, .... 49 

One foot blue clay and sand, ... .50 

Six feet sand, clay, and shales, .... 56 

Twenty-six feet fire clay, striking nodules at bottom, 82 
Four feet sand, gravel, and pebbles, ... 86 

Nine feet gravel and fine sand, ... 95 

One foot fine gray sandstone, . . . .96 


Three feet of shale rock, striking seam of gas, . 99 

One foot soap rock, with water and oil, . . 100 

Four feet soap rock, with oil more and more plenty, 104 
Eleven feet soft blue shale, with additional supply 

of oil, ..115 


One mile below McClintock’s, Messrs. Ewing & Shugert are 
boring with an engine—have reached 30 feet. In this neighbor¬ 
hood W. Stewart & Co. are also sinking. 

Eleven miles below Titusville, Messrs. Kellogg & Co. have 
sunk a well 90 feet, with a 4^ inch bore. Two barrels per day 
are obtained. They propose to sink deeper. 

In this vicinity, Aleen, Chase & Co. and Brown, Mithel & 
Co. are sinking. 

Two miles above Titusville is the well of the Kerrs. In the 
vicinity of the town, Moore, Chase & Co. have sunk 130 feet, 
and reached a rich layer of oil. Three-fourths of a mile below 
Moore’s is the well o.f Mead, Bouse & Co., 96 feet deep, and close 
by, that of Williams, Tanner & Co., 110 feet deep. Brine is 
pumped up in the last well. 

On the opposite side of the creek are the wells of Donaly, 



APPENDIX. 


139 


Kier & Co., and of Allen & Johnston. The latter have found 
oil at 130 feet.* 

One-fourth mile below the Pioneer well is that of Crossley, 
Sloan & Co., 108 feet deep; and on the hill opposite, Ullman & 
Co. sunk a considerable depth, but were prevented proceeding by 
the leakage of gas. 

One mile below Crossley’s, Fletcher, Stockspole & Co. have 
reached an abundant oil supply at 90 feet. Around this vicinity 
are many borings as yet uncompleted. 

At Tidionte, Warren Co., Messrs. Dennis & Co. are boring, 
about 1^ miles from the town and the Alleghany river, on Gor¬ 
don’s run ; bore 2 £ inch, and 63 feet down in rock, which is within 
3 feet of the surface. About 1 gallon per day is collected. At 
the mouth of this run, Messrs. King & Co. have sunk a well 6 
feet diameter to 17 feet deep, where rock is reached. The oil 
collected, about 3 gallons per day. 

Near Tidionte, the Pennine Exploring Co. are sinking five 
wells, 8 inches in diameter, and from 17 to 63 feet deep. Traces 
of oil are found in two of them. 

At Tarentum, Alleghany Co., are three borings, made origi¬ 
nally for brine, and still yielding salt water. The oil comes up with 
the brine, and separates completely by subsidence, and communi¬ 
cates no flavor to the salt. The borings are 450 feet deep, the 
brine coming from the lowest point, and the oil from about 350 
feet, or 100 feet above the brine spring. Of the three wells, that 
of Peterson & Co. yields about 10 bbls. in 24 hours; Kier’s 
about 3 bbls.; and Peterson Sen.’s, about 1 bbl. per 24 hours. 
The first-named well yielded brine for 20 years without a trace 
of oil, when the diameter was increased from 3 inches to 4; it 
then began to yield oil in the amount of 3 bbls. for 24 hours. 
From time to time the diameter of the bore was increased, the 
supply of oil increasing until the diameter reached seven inches, 
its present size, with the yield above given. Many of the old 
salt wells about Tarentum are now being deepened with the hope 
of obtaining oil from them. 

At Tarentum, L. Peterson & Co. are sinking a shaft 4i feet 

* For some of the information received, we are indebted to the Com¬ 
mercial Gazette , of Titusville. 




140 


APPENDIX. 


by 8, which they propose to reach 400 feet in depth, so as to cut 
through on a large scale the oil-bearing stratum. Not more than 
50 feet is at present sunk. 

At Franklin, Yenango Co., the Franklin Co. have bored 40 
feet through rock, having commenced at the bottom of an aban¬ 
doned well. The total depth is 60 feet, with a 6 inch bore; this 
is situate about 20 rods from French creek. Two miles below 
Franklin, Stewart & Co. have reached 90 feet with a 4 inch bore, 
and obtained oil. Two miles above Franklin, on the Alleghany 
river, Messrs. Fulton & Co. are sinking. At the mouth of Oil 
creek, Messrs. Arnold & Co. have sunk 325 feet, and obtained 
oil. About a mile from this, on the east bank of Alleghany river, 
a company have sunk 60 feet in rock, but have not yet reached oil. 

Oil has been discovered in the vicinity of the mouth of Deer 
creek, on the Clarion river, on the Packer property, now in pos¬ 
session of Mr. Whitehill. Oil has been found on the Clarion, be¬ 
tween the old bridge and Russell’s mill, and near Shippenville 
springs have also been discovered, rendering the excitement in¬ 
tense. The McCormick well yields about a gallon of oil each 
minute. The sum of $400,000 has been offered for the property. 










SYNOPTICAL RESUME 




OF 


PATENTED IMPROVEMENTS HAVING REFERENCE TO THE DISTILLA¬ 
TION OF OILS FROM COALS, BITUMENS, AND SCHISTS. 


I. AMERICAN PATENTS. 


1852. March 23.— Jas. Young. Improvement in making Paraf¬ 
fine Oil; (English patent dated Oct. 7th, 1850;) claims “obtaining 
paraffine oil, or an oil containing paraffine, and paraffine from bitumin¬ 
ous coals, by treating them in the manner heretofore described ; ” dis¬ 
tils the coal at a low red heat; treats distillate with sulphuric acid, and 
soda solution, redistils, and repurifies, and distils a third time. 

1853. March 29.— Luther Atwood. Process of preparing Para- 
naphthaline Oil from the distillate of Coal Tar ; collecting the products 
at certain fixed temperatures; calls the product u Coup-Oil.” 

1853. September 27.— Wm. Brown. Preparing Paraffine Oil, 
Lubricating Oil, and Eupion, from Coal or other bituminous matter; 
claims the use of super-heated steam, as specified, for separating the 
products ; also claims the modes of separating Eupion, Paraffine, and 
Lubricating Oil from each other. 

1854. June 27. —Abm. Gesner. Production of Kerosene Oils 
from Maltha and other bituminous substances, by subjecting them to 
dry distillation, at a heat not exceeding 800° F. The liquid distillate 
divides into 3 strata. The upper stratum is drawn off and redistilled ; 
this 2d distilled is purified and distilled to produce Kerosene A: analo¬ 
gous liquids, obtained by similar treatment with varying temperatures, 
yield Kerosene B and C. Claims the liquid Kerosene. 

1855. March 27.— Abm. Gesner. Improvement in processes for 
making Kerosene, by dry distillation, at the lowest temperature at 
which Kerosene will volatilize. The fluid is obtained by processes 
similar to those described in the foregoing description ; claims obtain¬ 
ing Kerosene from bituminous substances, by subjecting any of them 
to dry distillation, rectifying the distillate by treating it with acid and 
freshly-calcined lime, and then submitting it to re-distillation, as set 
forth. 




142 


AMERICAN PATENTS. 


1856. August 12— L. & W. Atwood. Improvement in produc¬ 
tion of oil from Cannel jOoal, so as to form a lubricating oil, consisting 
of Paraffine dissolved in Eupion, or light oils obtained in the first 
distillation. This oil boils at 600° F., is fluid at 32° F., and of a 
density of .804 at 60°; claims the oil produced having the properties 
set forth. 

1856. August 12.— L. & W. Atwood. Trinidad Pitch, or Bar- 
badoes Tar is distilled, and the product is again distilled: this distil¬ 
late is purified by sulphuric acid, and afterward caustic soda, and 
finally by permanganite of potass, or soda; the fluid is then finally 
distilled. This fluid boils at 600° F., is fluid at 32° F., and has a 
density of .900. Claims the manufacture and use of the oil described. 

1856. September 2.— Cummings Cherry. Improvement in ap¬ 
paratus for purifying oil obtained from Mineral coal. The crude oil is 
distilled in a horizontal retort furnished with copper heads and receiver, 
into which the distillate rises, whence it is driven into the rectifying 
chamber, furnished with trays, on which is placed a stratum of un¬ 
slacked lime; the vapors are then passed into a condenser and cistern, 
in which muriatic acid diluted is made to act on the liquid by means 
of agitation; after repose and decantation, the fluid is subjected to 
milk of lime. The oil is then drawn off and pumped into a boiler, 
where it is exposed to the direct action of steam. Claims the arrange¬ 
ment of the retort, combined with the copper heads, the rectifying 
chamber, the steam conduits, and the agitating apparatus. 

1856. September 2. —Cummings Cherry. Improvement in ap¬ 
paratus for distilling crude oil from Mineral coal. The coal is fed into 
an upright retort, having a closed top, and open at the lower extrem¬ 
ity, surrounded on inside with fire-tiles; the bottom of the retort is 
immersed in water. An agitator, or stirring rod, with small lateral 
projections attached, is fixed vertically in the retort, to keep the mate¬ 
rials at a uniform temperature. Claims providing upright retorts with 
a closed top, and opening at the bottom, to be immersed in water, as 
set forth. 

1856. September 2. —Cummings Cherry. Improvement in the 
preparation of drying oil from oils extracted from bituminous minerals. 
The purified oil is boiled with litharge and common resin. Claims 
preparing the oil as set forth. 

1856. December 16.— Richard Schroder. Improvement in ap¬ 
paratus for Coal-Oil. The coal is distilled in small upright retorts 
of fire-clay, closed at top, and set in a furnace so as to be surrounded 
with flame and fire, with pipes leading from it at different heights, so 
that the oils may be separated from each other while distilling, and 
not require subsequent rectification. Claims, constructing the retort 
or generator with openings of different heights, as shown, for the pur¬ 
pose of obtaining oil of different qualities, as set forth. 

1858. April 27.— David Alter and S. A. Hill Re-issued 
February 8, 1859. Improvement in retorts for obtaining volatile 
liquids by dry distillation of Shale, &c.; distils the coal, &c., in a cy¬ 
lindrical retort of cast iron or other metal, which rotates on an axle 
prolonged at each end; to the front extremity is attached the wheel- 
work needed to produce revolution; the axle at the back of the 


AMERICAN PATENTS. 


143 


retort is hollow, allowing the liquids and gas to escape into the con 
denser. 

1858. June 15.—T. D. Sargent. Improvement in Revolving 
Retorts for distillation of volatile oils from coal—a clay retort, placed 
horizontally, and worked so as to revolve to a limited extent; that is, 
when moved round two-thirds of its periphery, it returns back. 
Claims, a retort made of clay, and having a revolving motion when in 
action. 

1858. August 10.—T. & W. B. McCue. Improvement in ap¬ 
paratus for extracting oil from coal. Uses a revolving horizontal 
cylindrical retort, which passes £ of its periphery, and then returns; 
the retort is furnished with elevated plates or ribs running parallel to 
the long axis of the retort; these aid in preventing the coal accumu¬ 
lating in a mass at the lowest part of the retort. Claims the elevated 
plates or ribs described. 

1858. October 19. —Luther Atwood. Improvement in pro¬ 
cesses for obtaining volatile oils from coal, wood, &c. The coal, &c., is 
distilled in a tubular or cylindrical vertical retort, or tower, open at 
the upper extremity, by which the retort is fed; the eduction pipe is 
placed at the lower part of the tower, and leads to the condenser or 
tank; from this latter, a curved pipe leads to the worm; between the 
tank and the worm a steam jet nozzle is affixed, so that aspiration 
may be effected, by which the current of distilled products is directed 
downwards: a fire is first kindled at the open mouth of the retort 
when filled ; the aspirator is then put in action, when the distillation 
downwards goes on slowly without interruption. 

1858. December 28.— Luther Atwood. Improvement in ap¬ 
paratus for distilling coal. The process is that above described. 
Claims the combination and arrangement of a distilling tower and re¬ 
ceiving vessel, as described, with a steam blast, or its equivalent, for 
producing an increased current, as set forth. 

1858. December 28.— Luther Atwood. Improvement in manu¬ 
facture of Pyrogenic Oils ; places the substances to be distilled on the 
sole of a reverbatory furnace of a peculiar construction, so that the 
sole may be heated as well as the arch. Claims forming Oleaginous 
Vapors from substances yielding pyrogenic oils, by the action of the 
heat of a properly regulated current of the products of combustion 
passing over and above the surface of the mass operated on, with or 
without the aid of external heat, as described. 

1858. December 28. —Luther Atwood. Apparatus for decom¬ 
posing wood, bones, &c. This apparatus is adapted for dry distillation 
in general, and in principle is the same with that patented by the ap¬ 
plicant, October 19. The fire, in this case, is external to the tower, 
and the flame, &c., is conveyed to it through flues; a steam aspirator 
is used here also. Claims the combination of the distilling tower with 
the fire-place, when so arranged as to supply products of combustion 
by a downward draught through the fire-place, as set forth. 

1859. January 11. —James O’Hara. Improvement in apparatus 
for distilling oils from coal; a vertical retort is used, having a feed¬ 
pipe and eduction pipe at the upper end; the retort is placed in a 
fire-place, and supported on flanges attached near the upper part of the 


144 


AMERICAN PATENTS. 


side. An Archimedean screw is placed in the centre of the retort, for 
stirring the coal—there is room left between the plates of the screw 
and the inner wall of the retort for the coal to drop down. Claims, in 
an upright retort, the use of a revolving screw of less diameter than 
the inside of the retort, so as to allow of the ascent as well as the 
descent of the coal at the sides of the retort. 

1859. January 25.—E. N. Horner. Improvement in processes 
for extracting oils from coal. Claims the use of a compound of cream 
tartar, salt, and lime placed in the bottom of the condenser, to sepa¬ 
rate the steam from the oil, to condense the vapors, and to eliminate 
sulphurous acid gas. 

1859. February 1.— N. B. Hatch. Improvement in retorts for 
distilling oils from coal. The coal is fed into a semi-globular-shaped 
flat-bottomed still, or retort, through a hopper, and while being dis¬ 
tilled, is kept in motion by a sweep-bar, or vertical arm, with hori¬ 
zontal shafts attached, which are furnished with metallic plates, so as 
to sweep the bottom of the vessel while in motion; eduction pipes are 
placed at the lower margin of the vessel on a level with its bottom. 
Claims the application of a sweep-bar, or arm, with plates attached, 
operating so as to push or spread the material over the floor, and at 
intervals discharge some continuously by openings at or near the edge 
of the retort, as set forth. 

1859. February 15.— John Nicholson. Re-issued May 3. Im¬ 
provement in retorts for distilling coal-oil; a cylindrical-horizontal 
retort is fitted with a shaft travelling through the long axis, furnished 
with agitators or arms having curved blades. At the extremities of 
the retort, openings exist: 4 at one end for the attachment of supply 
and discharge pipe, and at the other end, 4 exit pipes. Claims the 
shaft or agitator armed with curved blades ; also the openings at the 
ends of the retort, as described. On a re-issue, a claim to the use of 
straight blades also, was secured. 

1859. February 22.—Luther Atwood. Improvement in ap¬ 
paratus for destructive distillation. This form of apparatus is but a 
variation of that already described; the fire is external to the tower, 
and the heated air enters the upper part of the tower by a bent flue ; 
the combustion is carried on by aspiration. Claims the arrangement 
and combination of the combustion tower, the distilling tower, and the 
steam blast or its equivalent, as set forth. 

1859. March 29.— Jas. Gillespie. Improvement in coal-oil 
retorts. Uses a revolving horizontal cylindrical retort, with shaft 
passing through its long axis; the eduction pipe is formed by the hol¬ 
low extremity of the axle; in order to keep the mouth of the eduction 
pipe always in an upright position, it is secured by pins surrounding 
the journal. Claims, securing the hopper-cup with pins, or their 
equivalents, surrounding the journal, with the square-headed shaft. 

1859. March 29.— Luther Atwood. Improvement in apparatus 
for destructive distillation. Combines a vertical distilling tower, as 
before patented, having an air-tight cover and feed-opening, with a 
condenser and adjustable draft passage, furnished with a sliding door 
or damper, so as to regulate the passage of air to the fire; distillation 
goes on by an upward current. 


AMERICAN PATENTS. 


145 


1859. April 19.— William Smith. Improvement in coal-oil 
retorts. Uses a horizontal cylinder retort, furnished with a hollow 
shaft having hollow arms attached, so that a current of air or water 
may be driven through to cool the retort. 

1859. May 31.— Joseph E. Holmes. Improvement in coal-oil 
retorts. Uses an L shaped retort, with a central perforated pipe at¬ 
tached to the cover, and suspended from it, to allow of the escape of 
the vapors, leaving an open space beneath it, through which the mate¬ 
rial may be removed. Claims the perforated pipe, as set forth. 

1859. May 31.—It. Hazlett and T. H. Hobbs. Improvement 
in coal-oil retorts; retort also useful for general purposes of distilla¬ 
tion. The base of the retort is flat, or rectangular, and the sides con¬ 
vex. The fire is applied to the lower portion only. The retort has a 
false bottom, or charger, for holding the coal; an air-chamber or space 
is allowed between the pan and the bottom of the retort, that the coals 
may not be burned. The retort has conduits or gutters running along 
the lower part of the sides of the retort. Claims the shape of the 
retort, and the charger. 

1859. March 29.—Jos. E. Holmes. Protects the hollow journal 
eduction pipe from entrance of coal, &c., by fitting on an elbow inside 
the retort, and carrying it to the upper portion of the retort; also 
adapts a perforated steam pipe passing through the journal, and diffus¬ 
ing steam through the coal. 

1859. May 31.— Wm. G. W. Jaeger. Improvement in retorts 
for distilling coal-oils. A cucurbit shaped retort, with a flat bottom, 
having side-channels and trap-openings, or water-valves, by which the 
heavy oils or tar may be removed, while the lighter oils pass off by the 
neck. Claims the side-channels and trap-openings, also the try-hole 
in combination with the retort described. 

1859. June 21.—H. P. Gingembre. Improvement in apparatus 
for destructive distillation. Uses an L shaped retort, combined with 
charging-boxes, crusher, and discharging-tube, as described, capable of 
being subjected to a degree of temperature higher at the horizontal 
than at the vertical end ; atmospheric air being excluded. The crusher 
is placed in the retort between the point of greatest and least heat. 

1859. June 28.—W. G. W. Jaeger. An improvement in the 
mode of condensing vapors of oil, by introducing between the retort 
and condensing worm a large surface condenser of special construction; 
attached to this is a fan-blower, an escape-pipe, and a trap-opening. 
Claims the novelty in the apparatus. 

1859. June 30.— John L. Stewart. Improvement in retorts; 
uses a revolving web-retort, with induction and escape-pipes at one 
end; a coal-feeding endless apron, which carries the coal twice through 
the retort. A water-trough and endless carrier to remove the coke, 
is attached 

1859. August 2.— Wm. T. Barnes. Improvement consists in at¬ 
taching to a coal oil apparatus an automaton dust-clearer, consisting of 
a series of levers and rod, operated by a cam or otherwise. Spiral or 
screw flanges are adapted to the head of the retort for pushing the ma¬ 
terial awav from the hole in the journal. 

'10 


146 


AMERICAN PATENTS. 


1859. August 2.— Henry Pemberton. In the refining of coal-oil, 
claims recovering the sulphuric acid used in the process, by treating 
the residuum with hot water, steam, or otherwise. 

1859. August 2.—Wm. T. Barnes. Claims a tube provided with 
tubular arms, made to revolve, and connected with a water supply, as 
set forth. Claims also the arrangement of the water tanks. 

1859. August 16. —II. P. Gingembre. Claims the continual pro¬ 
gression and gradual destructive distillation of coal or other bitumens. 

1859. September 20.—Morris L. Keen. Claims, in the distilla¬ 
tion of coal-tar, the employment of additional heat, at or near the sur¬ 
face of the coal-tar or other similar hydrocarbon, when used in combi¬ 
nation with pressure in the boiler to prevent the tarry foam rising up 
in the vessel. 

1859. November 29. —Matthew Hodgkinson. Claims a station¬ 
ary retort, armed with knives whose edges are at right angles with the 
shaft passing through it, by which the coal is broken and powdered 
more economically. 

1860. January 3. F. W. Willard. Furnishing coal-oil retorts 
with internal false or extra heads at either end of the retort, and held 
at proper distances by means of stays or studs, as set forth; the inter¬ 
vening space being filled with clay or other non-conducting material. 


EUROPEAN PATENTS. 


147 


XI. EUROPEAN PATENTS. 


Under this head it has not been deemed necessary to give an 
abstract of each patent, as the descriptions are extensive, and the 
claims numerous, in the great majority of the patents; they are 
classified here under the several general natures of the inventions 
claimed. 


ENGLISH* 

a. General Manufacture. 

1746. Aug. 7. H. Haskins. 

1781. April 30. Earl of Dundonald. 

1833. Jan. 29. Richard Butler. 

1842. Mar. 4. T. A. W. Count de Hompesch 

1850. Oct. 7. Jas. Young. 

1851. Nov. 22. Jas. Gilbee. 

1852. Nov. 5. Earl of Dundonald. 

1852. Nov. 5. G. Shand, and A. McLean. 

1853. Jan. 13. Wm. Brown. 

Feb. 4. Jno. Perkins. 

March 18. Geo. Rose. 

March 31. W. A. P. Aymard. 

April 22. C. M. T. du Motav. 

July 5. John Fall. 

July 25. Warren de la Rue. 

August 13. Jno. Perkins. 

August 23. Wm. Brown. 

Oct. 12. E. J. Maumene. 

Dec. 9. J. Chisholm. 

Dec. 27. F. C. Calvert. 

1854. Feb. 4. Wm. Little. 

Feb. 15. G. F. Wilson. 

March 3. Wm. Brown. 

May 10. Rees Reece. 

June 23. D. C. Knab. 

July 26. P. A. Godefroy. 

Dec. 23. Warren de la Rue. 

1855. Jan. 22. Wm. Kilgour. 

Feb. 7. Edward Davies. 

Sept. 4. W. de la Rue. 

Nov. 24. II. Hyde. 

Dec. 5. Davies, Syers «fc Humphrey. 
1S56. Jan. 3. Herman Brambach.t 

April 10. P. Bancroft, and S. White. 
April 22. A. E. Beach. 

May 15. J. G. Simpson and W. 
Thompson. 

Sept. 10. Stephen White. 

Dec. 6. James Perry. 

1857. Jan. 8. T. W. Keats.+ 

Jan. 12. G. F. Wilson. 

Jan. 28. G. F. Wilson. 

1858. Feb. 24. F. Puhls. 

Feb. 24. F. Puhls. 

April 6. W. Ziernozel. 

May 26. J. Stuart. 

b. Apparatus for Distillation. 

1852. Dec. 28. Edward Mucklow. 

1853. Jan. 24. D. C. Knab. 

August 18. A. M. M. de Bergerin. 


1853. August 22. A. E. L. Bellford. 

Oct. 21. J. F. F. Challeton. 

Nov. 2. F. A. Gatty. 

Dec. 5. Edward Lavender. 

Dec. 20. Paul Wagenmann. 

1854. Jan. 6. H. II. Edwards. 

July 14. A. P. Price. 

Sept. 14. G. F. & F. J. Evans. 

Dec. 15. F. Archer & W. Papineau. 

1855. May 29. E. J. Lafond and A. de 

Chateau Sillard. 

July 18. John Ellis. 

Sept. 18. P. G. Barry. 

1856. Feb. 28. P. G. Barry. 

Sept. 10. Stephen White. 

Dec. 6. W. H. Bowers. 

1S57. March 31. T. E. D’Arcet. 

August 5. Sebastian Bottiere, 

Sept. 9. Edward Lavender. 

Oct. 22. A. H. C. Chiandi. 

FRENCH4 

a. General Manufacture. 

1848. Nov. 17. Lacarriere. 

1850. April 23. Lacarriere. 

July 29. Ferraud. 

1851. Feb. 15. Bourdeux. 

1852. April 17. Bourdeux. 

1853. Jan. 15. Poisat, Knab and Mallet. 
May 25. L’lsle de Sales. 

Sept. 7. Chatelau and Encontre. 

Oct. 3. Challeton. 

1854. Jan. 12. L’lsle de Sales. 

June 27. Burdin. 

1855. Dec. 24. Renaud. 

1856. April 24. Beach. 

Nov. 26. Tripon. 

1857. Jan. 10. Camus and Messililier. 

b. Apparatus. 

1850. Jan. 16. Brehot. 

Jan. 29. Maillart. 

March 25. Maillart and Ganneron. 
April 29. Lahore. 

1851. Nov. 12. Girandel. 

1853. Feb. 6. Malo, Prosper and Hugues. 
April 4. Buran. 

June 20. Humbert. 

1854. April 18, Lacasse and Millochau. 

J uly 3. Sauvage. 

Sept. 15. Challeton. 


* For descriptions, consult “English Specifications bf Patents, by Bennet Wood 
croft,” published by Royal authority, London. 

t Thus marked are void specifications, not being completed. 

j Patents in force not published by the Government. Those which have expired 
may be consulted in the Catalogue des Brevets d’lnyention, published by the French 
Government. 










































INDEX 




Agitators in retorts, 104. 

Albert mineral, 16. 

Albert mineral, oils from, 84. 

Alter & Hill’s process, 113. 

Alloys as beating agents, 101. 

Alloys, table of fusibility of, 101. 
American Patents, list of, 136-140. 
American coals, 30. 

Ampeline, 62. 

Ammonia from heat, 89. 

Aniline, 65. 

Anthracene, 70. 

Archimedean Screw in retort, 105. 
Asphalt from turf, 88. 

Aspirators, use of, 106. 

Atwood’s mode of distilling, 111. 

Baths, metallic, 101. 

Benzule, 42, 58, 59. 

Bitumens, 31. 

Bitumen, analysis of, 31. 

Bitumen in coal, 21, 22. 

Bitumen, nature of, 33, 34, 35. 

Bitumen, varieties of, 31, 32. 

Bitterfeld, distillation at, 124. 

Boghead coal, 25, 26. 

Boghead mineral, 25. 

Bonn, manufacture at, 116-120. 
Breckenridge coal, 24, 25. 

Brown coal, distillation of, 122. 

Cannel coal, localities of, 28. 

Carbolic acid, 63. 

Cement for clay retorts, 96. 

Chervau, C. & P., notice of patent of, 13. 
Chimney, distillation upward, 109. 
Chimney, distillation, downward, 110. 
Chrysene and Pyrene, 70. 

Clayton, Dr., experiments, 6, 7. 

Coal, analyses of, 33. 

Coal, chemical change in, 18, 19. 

Coal, definition of, 17. 

Coal, slow decomposition of, 72. 


Coal, influence of pressure, 73. 

Coal, microscopic examination, 17. 

Coal, varieties of, 23. 

Coal, distillation of, 53 
Coals, nature of, 15. 

Coals, fat, 73. 

Coke, 36, 40. 

Coup oil, 65, 66. 

Crane furnace, 98. 

Creosote, 63. 

Crude oils, purification of, 121,130-132. 
Cumene, 61. 

Destructive distillation, 35, 42, 46. 
Distillation in towers, 106. 

Distillation, substances formed by, 36. 
Dorsetshire shale, 82. 

Eaton, Professor A., remarks by, 114. 
English patents, list of, 141. 

Escape pipes, 100. 

Eupion, 90. 

French patents, list of, 141. 

Furnace for peat, 98. 

Gases of combustion, heat of, 109. 
Germany, manufacture in, 114,115 
Growth of the art, 16. 

Hales, Dr., remarks, 8. 

Hamburg, factory at, 114. 

Hatcheltine, 31, 34. 

Heat, application of, 92, 93, 94. 

Ilubner, on distillation of coal, 122-125. 
Hydrocarbons, table of, 34. 
Hydrocarbons isomeric with paraffine, 69 
Hydrocarbons, fossil, 74. 

Hydrogen, carbide of, 39, 42. 

Irish Peat Co. works, 88. 

Lewitte, notice of patent of, 12. 

Lignite, 29. 

Lignite, distillation of, 54,126,127. 

Light oils, 60, 

Mansfield, notice of patent of, 9. 
Mansfield purification of benzule, 129. 




150 


INDEX. 


Manufacture, area of, 133. 

Manufacture, extent of, 134,135. 
Manufacture, localities of, 134,135. 
Middletonite, 31, 34. 

Naphtha, 31, 58. 

Naphtha, density of, 32. 

Naphtha in Boghead coal, 27. 

Naphtha from schists, 82. 

Naphthalin, 70. 

Naphthalin, formation of, 93. 

Newberry, Dr., views on cannel coal, 27. 
Northern, Mr., experiments, 8. 

Oils, produce of, 55, 

Oils from bituminous schists, 82. 

Oils, purification of, 118,121,128,129. 

Oils from turf, 86, 87. 

Oils of wood tar, 90. 

Organic substances, decomposition of, 36. 
Ovens, brick, 97. 

Ovens, carbonizing, 97. 

Ozokerite, 31, 34. 

Paraffine, production of, 67. 

Paraffine, properties of, 68. 

Paraffine, purification of, 117. 

Paraffine, when formed, 93. 

Paraffine, recovery of, 118,127. 

Paraffine, fossil, 31. 

Paraffine of turf, 88. 

Peat, origin of, 32. 

Peat, products of distillation, 89. 

Peat produce in oils, 89. 

Petroline, 82. 

Photogen, of Wagenmann, 118,122. 
Photogen from turf, 87. 

Photogenic oils, 62. 

Picamar, 91. 

Pipes, distillation in, 110, 111. 

Pittacal, 91. 

Pouillet, table of temperatures, 94 
Pyrene, 71. 


Pyroxanthin, 91. 

Reichenbach, notice of experiments of, 11. 
Resins, fossil, 74. 

Resins, formation of, 75. 

Retorts, form of, 95-100. 

Retorts, shape of, 100. 

Retorts, position of, 99, 100. 

Retorts, vertical, 99. 

Revolving retorts, 102. 

Revolving retorts, value of, 103, 104. 
Rhenish coals, 127. 

Saxony, distillation in, 123. 

Schists, distillation of, 82. 

Selligue, H., process of distilling, 82. 
Shale, bituminous, products from, 82, 83. 
Slate, posidonian, oil of, 83. 

Steam, effect on distillation, 40. 

Steam open, in distillation, 107. 

Steam, superheated use of, 108. 

Steam, purification by, 129. 

Tar, amount of, 48. 

Tar, nature of, 48. 

Tar, constitution of, 56, 57. 

Tar, production of, 49. 

Tar, constituents of, 58. 

Tar from Cannel coal, 51. 

Tar from turf, 86. 

Temperature for distilling, 39-94. 
Temperatures, table of, 94. 

Toluene, 60. 

Towers, distillation by, 106, 110, 111, 112. 
Turf, mode of growth, 32. 

Turf, distillation of, 52, 85, 86. 

Volatile oils, distillation of, 38. 

Vohl on Lignite, 126,127. 

Wagenmann, process of, 115,116. 
Wagenmann’s mode of distilling, 117,120. 
Wood, carbonization of, 40. 

Young, James, notice of patent of, 10. 


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